Heroes of Mobius
by Maya Uzumaki The Hedgehog
Summary: Team Fighters (Sonic, Amy, and Tails) have their work cut out for them in this adventure. Freedom Fighters everywhere have started to disappear, including Princess Sally, and other major leaders. Leave it to Sonic and Co. to save the day. Review if possible, please. *SonicXAmy, TailsXCream, KnucklesXRouge, & ShadowXYou'llFindOutIfYouRead!
1. A Perfect Day, Ruined: The Start

**Alright. This is a bit of a change in direction for me, but I was told some really great advice and I think a change in focus for my stories was necessary. I've planned this entire story out, chapter by chapter and I really hope you enjoy it.**

**This story is BEYOND cheesy with stupid lines such as, "Way past cool!" or "Gotta juice!". This is a Sonic fanfiction and supposed to be A LOT like the anime Sonic X with all of that stuff...**

**Look up lacations that I use, and characters that I use, that you may not be familiar with. It will help A LOT. **

**DISCLAIMER:**

**I do not own any of the characters or cities I'm using, however I own the story. I will let you know if there are OC's, but I seriously doubt I will need to use one in this story.**

**Please Review. It would mean a lot to me:) **

**Rated T for now. May go up depending on what the people want. **

**I DID make the story's picture. I made it when I was ten, but then added Tikal's head in when I first started this story.**

****This story has quite a bit of SonicXAmy romance so that's why this is an Adventure/Romance fiction****

**I hope you enjoy this Team Fighter's adventure. I present, Heroes of Mobius.**

* * *

**-Normal POV-**

It was a beautiful day, which meant clear, cerulean skies. There was not a single cloud in sight; the warm sun, shining brightly down upon everyone. The flickies sang their songs, and the Mobians of New Mobotropolis were in a great mood. Kids were playing, adults were laughing. Everybody seemed at peace.

This is where our story begins, but dear reader, this is also where it ends.

* * *

Sonic the Hedgehog, Mobius' prime hero, had just gotten back from a week of isolation, or a break, rather. He needed to be away for awhile; to catch up on his thoughts. He hadn't heard from anybody all day, which was quite odd for him, considering everybody on the planet knew his name. The cobalt hedgehog, then, spotted a chili dog vendor.

_The chili dog; my one and only_, he thought, dreamily, as he walked over to the cart.

"Mr. Hedgehog!" the walrus who ran the cart greeted. The walrus was practically bigger than than the cart itself, and was of a plum coloring.

"Hiya, buddy," Sonic said, flashing his signature thumbs up.

"What can I do for ya, Mr. Hedgehog?" the walrus asked, stunned that he, an average Mobian, was even talking to _the_ Sonic the Hedgehog.

"Uh, you can just call me, Sonic. And I'd like 14 chili dogs, please," Sonic grinned his trademark smile.

"Alright! 14 chili dogs coming up, sir," the vendor worker said, getting to work.

* * *

After eating his midday meal, Sonic decided to go for a run through the valleys of the Republic of Acorn. It was the perfect day for it. The grass was a mixture of lime green and emerald green pigment, the soil as rich and earthy as ever. This, put Sonic in an even more carefree and oblivious mood. Unfortunately, that moment of not a care in the world, would be short-lived.

* * *

Sonic heard the noise of machinery behind him, but he didn't stop running, knowing the noise better than his own voice. A plane engine.

"Sonic!" he heard a high-pitched voice call.

"Longtime, no see, Tails!" Sonic grinned as his best friend flew up to his left in his airplane, the Tornado.

"Sonic! We have to talk!" Tails yelled, trying to make his voice heard over the noisy motor of his plane. Sonic nodded and hopped onto the left wing of the Tornado, the wind blowing his royal blue quills back.

"Let's go to my work shop..." Tails advised, his voice low.

* * *

About an hour later, the duo arrived in the Mystic Ruins. The large, mountainous rocks glimmered in the evening sunlight, the greenery of the forest as jade as ever. The waterfall was crystal clear.

"The plane's running better than usual," Sonic commented as they landed without crashing for once.

"Heh, I've been working on it," Tails said bashfully.

"So... What did you need to tell me?" Sonic asked as they entered the small workshop. It hadn't changed much inside.

"You've been gone this past week, and, well... over half of the freedom fighters, former and current, have gone missing. They've disappeared into thin air," Tails said, his voice humorless.

"What do you mean, 'disappeared'?" Sonic asked, his eyes narrowing.

"It's like they've fallen off the face of Mobius. Their families have been calling, asking where they are..." Tails said, looking down.

"Call, Amy. Tomorrow morning, Team Fighters will get together," Sonic said, hating not knowing what was happening.

"Alright. Get some sleep. Tomorrow we'll figure things out," Tails advised. Sonic nodded and took off without another word. A perfect day had been ruined by one conversation.

* * *

As Sonic laid in the tree outside his house, he struggled to get to sleep. His mind kept racing about the missing freedom fighters. He looked looked up at the sky which was painted navy blue. He couldn't help notice that the stars were shinier than usual. One caught Sonic's eye though. It was like he was caught in a trance. It kept getting closer and closer to him until finally, the ball of light was in his hands.

"Come in...come in..." the ball of light whispered. Sonic, then, leaned in, losing control of himself. A blinding flash of white light went off.

* * *

When the white light faded, Sonic was standing in the Ancient Echidna ruins. It was still nighttime. He could see the monument, but none of the echidna tribe were there. The scene was lit by the blaze of the torch.

"Sonic the Hedgehog," a voice whispered, politely.

"Yes?" Sonic asked, looking forward. He saw a peach colored echidna girl. She had white wraps in her quills and looked very innocent, although her bright, blue eyes looked worry-ridden. Too young to be so scared; she was only fourteen.

"Do you remember me?" she asked, stepping forward. Behind her were four baby blue chao with light yellow tips.

"Of course. Tikal, isn't it?" Sonic asked. She nodded.

"Look, I haven't much time...so I must hurry when I tell you this... Sonic, you must collect the five remaining chaos emeralds before the evil Dr. Robotnik does. He already has two in his possession...and he is set on collecting the others!" she said, already starting to fade, slightly.

"Wait! What about the Freedom Fighters?" Sonic asked.

"You shall learn in time, Sonic the Hedgehog. But find the chaos emeralds, and you shall succeed in whatever your task is to be...Start your journey in the ancient town of Chun-nan, my cobalt friend!" she said, trailing off, and fading from sight. The blinding white light appeared again.

* * *

Sonic woke up in cold sweat. Tikal had visited him before, and her words had helped him save the world from a giant water monster. So whatever she had told him to do, he would do. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. Knowing now, what he had to do, Sonic rested into a peaceful slumber, fireflies lighting the nighttime sky.

* * *

**First chapter is supposed to be this short and second chapter won't be much longer. They will get to be A LOT longer though as I progress. Please READ AND REVIEW. PM me questions or comment questions if necessary. I hoped you enjoyed. Next chapter we will get Team Fighters (Sonic, Amy, and Tails. NO T-PUP in this fiction!) together and begin the journey to Chun-nan to find the dark blue chaos emerald. Have a good day!:)**


	2. Team Fighters: Together At Last

**Here I present chapter 2. I hope you enjoy. Not a lot happens, but I would recommend reading so you can understand Chapter 3. Amy is also introduced into this chapter. Without further ado...Chapter 2. **

* * *

**-Normal POV-**

The next day was a rainy day. How ironic, that after hearing bad news, it would rain. Sonic was already in a non-cheery mood, and the weather made it that much worse. Heck, he couldn't even run to Tails' workshop. He had to take his time and walk.

_Stupid rain_, he thought to himself. Sonic had just arrived at Tails' workshop and didn't even bother to knock on the door.

"Hey, Tails, hey, Amy-"

"You're all wet!" Amy interrupted, getting a towel out of the cabinet.

"It's raining so I couldn't run," Sonic explained, hoping she wouldn't freak out. She walked over to him, a honey colored towel in her hands. She wrapped the towel around his shivering body, making sparks shoot through him at her touch.

"I'll make you some soup, okay?" she smiled at him.

"Uh, thanks, Ames," he said, his voice genuine, and his muzzle slightly pink.

* * *

While Amy was making soup, Tails informed Sonic of important news.

"We have a problem," Tails said, loud enough for Amy to hear.

"What is it?" Sonic asked, his ears perking up.

"More freedom fighters have gone missing..." Tails sighed. Sonic closed his eyes in frustration. At that moment, T-pup and Amy came in from the other room, with the soup.  
"Here, Sonic," Amy said, handing him the bowl.

"Thank you," he smiled his goofy side smile, which made her knees grow weak.

"Any...anytime," she breathed. Sonic practically saw the hearts in her eyes. He sweat dropped and turned back to Tails.

"And, well...Sally has gone missing along with them," Tails finished, looking solemn.

"WHAT?" Sonic almost dropped his bowl of broth. He felt his heart sink. Sally was one of his best friends...even his lover at one point, though they were way past that.

"No..." Amy said, her eyes wide. Tails nodded solemnly.

"We'll find a way to save them... I know we will," Sonic said, quietly. Then he remembered Tikal's words from the previous night.

"Wait, guys. Tikal visited me last night..."

* * *

Sonic told Tails and Amy about Tikal's visit, the five chaos emeralds that they needed to find, and about how if they found them, they'd be able to save Sally and the freedom fighters.

"And lastly, Tikal hinted that the first emerald is in Chun-nan..." Sonic finished.

"The city-state in the United Fed?" Amy asked. Sonic nodded.

"Alright. Let's leave tonight," Tails said. "I'll get the tornado packed and ready for takeoff," he said, rushing out of the workshop.

The rain had lifted, and Sonic and Amy were left alone in the small house.

"Want me to take you back to your house?" Sonic offered. He was in a bad mood, and being around Amy, or even Cream, helped.

"Sure," Amy smiled.

* * *

Because it was still wet, Sonic didn't want to risk running with Amy in his arms, so they took the train back into downtown Station Square, where Amy's apartment was located. The duo, soon, left the train station when they arrived to the city, and started to walk on the sidewalk to get to Amy's house. The sky was still a grey, dull, overcast, but that didn't stop Amy from being positive.

"I've never been to Chun-nan, but I know that it'll be amazing. Tails told me, before you came of course, that he's invented a tracking device that'll help us locate the emeralds. Apparently, the emerald's power can be tracked! We'll find the chaos emeralds in no time." Amy's words helped comfort Sonic.

"I guess you're right," Sonic said, thoughtfully. He and Amy walked the rest of the way in silence. He'd catch her glancing at him every once in awhile. It made him happy to know that she cared for him so deeply. Nobody had ever shown him so much affection before in _that_ way. Not even Sally, though their romance was pretty rocky.

* * *

Eventually, the hedgehogs made it to Amy's apartment.

"I'll see you tonight, Sonic," Amy said, hugging him gently.

"Sounds like a plan, Ames," Sonic said, hugging her back...well...sort of, not really... She sighed at his half hug, but went inside., without another word.

* * *

Sonic decided to go back to the Republic of Acorn to visit...

"Hiya, sonny!" Uncle Chuck greeted him at the door with a big, goofy grin.

"Yo," the cobalt hero grinned at his favorite and only uncle. Chuck invited Sonic in, and they conversed for a bit until...

"Did you hear about Sally?" Uncle Chuck asked, becoming serious, making Sonic frown.

"Yeah. Team Fighters and I are going to leave tonight to figure out why the freedom fighters have gone missing. We're headed for Chun-nan to find a chaos emerald," Sonic confessed.

"Sonny... Just be careful, please. Your parents would want you to stay safe..." Sonic's parents had been kidnapped and roboticized by Dr. Robotnik a few years back, and neither Sonic, nor Uncle Chuck had seen them since.

Sonic could only nod to his uncle.

"Here, take this," Sonic threw a wrist communicator device to his Uncle. "You can talk to me, Tails, or Amy through this... Anytime you need to or want to."

"I'm proud of you, sonny," Uncle Chuck grinned, but shed a tear.

"Thanks, Uncle Chuck," Sonic grinned at his teary-eyed uncle.

"Now go bring us back a princess," Uncle Chuck smiled, clapping Sonic on the back.

"We will," Sonic nodded, his confidence and determination restored.

* * *

It was about midnight, and the streets were dry by now. Sonic took this as a chance to prove himself as 'fastest thing alive' and ran straight from the Republic of Acorn, to the United Federation in under 20 minutes. Sonic had brought a backpack filled with a few pairs of white gloves and socks, an extra pair of power sneakers alongside traction shoes (Hey! You never know when you might need to take a trip to Holoska!), a scarf, a cell phone, a canteen, food that would stay good, and other essentials. When he stopped running, he was in the Mystic Ruins, in front of Tails' workshop. He saw Tails and Amy on the airplane's runway, packing Amy's backpack into the cargo part of the plane.

"Uh, Tails?"

"Yeah, Amy?"

"There's only two seats; there's three of us..." Amy pointed out. Tails had added a second seat to the Tornado for Amy. Tails and Sonic started to laugh.

"What?" Amy asked, crossing her arms, not liking being laughed at.

"Sonic never sits on the inside," Tails said between laughs.

"I crouch on the wing," Sonic explained, composing himself. He smiled at her kindly.

"Oh," Amy said, tongue-tied by his warm smile.

"Alright. Are ready to go?" Tails asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah," Sonic and Amy said in unison.

"Great. Let's go!" Tails said, climbing into the pilot's seat. Amy got into the second seat while Sonic took his crouching position on the left wing.

And with that, the trio was on their way, to Chun-nan, in hopes of finding the first chaos emerald.

* * *

**I know that nothing much happened, but this chapter was Preparing for the next one. Now that Amy has been introduced into the story, the trio can start their adventure. Amy's house is the same apartment from Sonic Adventure for dreamcast/gamecube (it'sin Station Square) and Sonic lives with his Uncle Chuck in the same house from Archie Comics. Next chapter will pick up with Team Fighters in Chun-nan, finding the first chaos emerald. PM me questions/concerns. REVIEW PLEASE. I like hearing your input and I want to know how I'm doing so far. Have a great day!:)**


	3. The First Chaos Emerald: Chun-Nan

**Alright. I here by give you Chapter 3. If you do not know what the city of Chun-Nan looks like, I suggest you open another tab, and Google it. I got Sonic Unleashed a few months back, and I wanted to add a few of the towns into this story. If you do not know, Chun-Nan is a China-inspired town. REVIEW PLEASE. I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

**-Normal POV-**

_(With Robotnik/Eggman...)_

"HO-HO-HO! Guess that pesky little hedgehog decided to listen to Tikal, after all." Robotnik said, pressing a button that unleashed several projectiles.

* * *

_(With Sonic, Amy, and Tails...)_

The trio was just overhead of Chun-Nan. The morning air was cloudy and consisted of thick fog, which didn't help Tails figure out where to land. Sonic was crouching on the left wing of the plane, humming a tune to himself, and Amy sat dreamily staring at him.

"Uh, guys..." Tails said, his voice unsure.

"Yo," Sonic said, still humming tunelessly.

"Missiles are coming this way! Hold on Sonic!" Sonic's head snapped up and looked to where the projectiles were coming.

"Woah!" Sonic said as Tails turned the plane sideways to avoid the missile. Four more came at the Tornado, and Tails dodged all but one, which hit the right wing.

"AHH!" Tails said as he lost control of his plane. The team of three started to fall from the sky.

"AHHH!" Amy screamed. Sonic grabbed her hand and pulled her into his arms. Tails was lost in the clouds and explosion and Sonic and Amy were hurtling towards a body of water in Chun-nan.

"Close your eyes," Sonic told Amy, calmly. She buried her face in his chest. They then, hit the cool, misty water.

* * *

Tails had just fixed the broken wing on the Tornado. It was evening, and Amy still hadn't woken up. Sonic was pacing around, nervously.

"She'll be fine, Sonic," Tails tried to comfort him.  
"I know, but we took a pretty hard fall into the water. Maybe too much water got into her lungs. Maybe she's in a coma. Maybe-"

"Sonic, I checked her pulse. She'll be fine. You saved her just in time, too. How come you were able to swim?" Tails asked, skeptically.

"I don't know. Instinct took over, I guess," Sonic said, as he stopped pacing.

"Curious," Tails muttered, thinking to himself. Sonic then, went back to pacing, when he heard a small cough behind him.

He stopped thinking and turned.

"Amy! You're awake," Tails said, shooting Sonic an I-told-you-so look.

"Yeah..." She then turned to Sonic, "Thank you for saving me, Sonikku." She then, gave him a big bear hug, making him gasp for air, and turned back to Tails.

"Have you found the first chaos emerald?"

"Not yet," Tails said. "We were waiting for you to wake up. But I've tracked it in the Chun-Nan forest."

"Well, then. What're we waiting for? I'll change," Amy said, starting to turn.

"Amy, are you sure you're able to go? You just took a 300 foot fall. I think you need to rest..." Tails advised. Amy shook her head.

"The freedom fighters need us. If I can stand, I'm ready." And with that, she turned went back into her room to change into dry clothes.

* * *

By the time the friends left the inn they were staying at, they made it to the marketplace of Chun-Nan.

"Are you two as hungry as I am?" Sonic asked his friends.

"Sonic! Now isn't the time for food!" Tails exclaimed. But it didn't matter anyways, because Sonic and Amy were on their way over to Wang's Emporium.

"What can I help you with today?" the shopkeeper asked.

"I'd like a chili dog, please," Sonic said.

"I'll have the peach buns," Amy smiled at the man. Tails groaned and walked over towards his friends.

"I'll take the noodles," he grumbled.

"Alright, Mr. Hedgehog. Your total is one-hundred and fifty rings," the shopkeeper grinned. Sonic handed him the money and the three friends walked over to the lily pond to have their evening meal.

* * *

When they were finished eating, they decided that they should start looking for the chaos emerald. They entered the forest like jungle, only to find a few paths available to choose.

"My radar is telling me to go left," Tails said to nobody in particular. Sonic and Amy obliged and let Tails lead, knowing he was probably right.

* * *

Their surrounding were amazing. The little ponds were as clear as glass and had lily pads in them, which was a beautiful sight to see in the sunset. The bonsai trees were truly spectacular; but they weren't there to sight-see. They were there, to find a chaos emerald.

"HO-HO-HO!" The group heard an evil voice say.

"MUST-ANNIHILATE-DOCTOR-ROBOTNIK! ANNIHILATION-CHARGE!" they heard another familiar voice say.

"Woah."

"Was that-"

"Omega!" Amy cried. She then, ran to where the robotic voice was.

"Amy! Get back here!" Sonic called, running after the pink hedgehog.

"Sonic!" Tails called. "Wait up!"

* * *

When Amy stopped running, she saw Rouge the Bat on the ground, unconscious, and Omega standing protectively in front of her.

"Now, Omega. That's not a way your creator should be treated! Hand over that royal blue chaos emerald, or I shall pull your plug!" the sinister, egg-shaped, genius threatened.

"Yo, Omega! Don't listen to 'ol Egghead over there. He'll pull your plug no matter what. Why don't you just sit tight for a minute while Ames and I finish this loser off," Sonic grinned his cocky side smile.

"Really?" Amy asked, hearts in her eyes. Sonic sweat dropped.

"Uh, of course, Amy-"

"Not you again you blue rodent!" Dr. Robotnik screamed. "I thought my projectiles would've finished you twerps off!"

"What can I say? I die hard. Tails! Get Rouge and Omega out of here! Amy and I will take care of Robuttnik," Sonic commanded.

"Alright, Sonic," Tails nodded. Omega picked up Rouge's limp body and handed Tails the dark blue chaos emerald.

"Is that all you got, Eggman! Picking on your mechs because you have no life?" Sonic taunted, as his friends left.

"Why I otta-" but Robotnik stopped mid-sentence when a hammer to the head shut him up.

"You wanna finish that sentence now?" Amy asked, flicking her wrist, causing her Piko Piko hammer to reappear.

"For that, I will summon, my badnik band!" Robotnik cried.

"Bring it, Egghead," Sonic smirked. Robotnik pushed a button in his Egg Mobile and mechs appeared out of nowhere.

_This is a lot more than I expected_, Sonic thought.

"Let's do this, Ames," Sonic said. He took out the first twenty in two seconds by doing his famous spin dash. He then took out quite a few more by using his very own homing attack.

Amy on the other hand, was doing quite well. She had taken out most of the mechs with her hammer and Sonic, was impressed. Her private lessons with Julie-Su had been doing her justice. As he was being distracted by her, a mech lunged at him, cutting his right arm.

"Agh!" he cried in pain, falling to his knees.

Amy heard his scream and froze. She was scared at first, but her fear turned into sadness, and her sadness turned into anger.

She then finished off her mechs out of fury and went over to the robots that were circling him.

"Stay AWAY from HIM!" she screeched, taking out every last mech. As Sonic struggled to get up, he noticed that Robotnik was paralyzed from Amy's outburst. You see, Robotnik knew she had a hot temper, but he was literally frightened of her right now.

"Y-you may have one this time, but those were- were only the easy ones!" Dr. Robotnik managed. He then fled the scene before Amy could react. The sakura hedgehog forgot about her anger and rushed over to Sonic.

"Are you okay?" she asked him, her voice barely audible.

"Yeah, Ames. It was nothing," he said, trying to lie. His arm was bloody, which didn't help his defense.

"No. Look at your arm," Amy said, a tear falling from her eye.

"Ames...Don't cry. I'm fine," Sonic said, lifting her chin up. She nodded, but still didn't look convinced. She took off her backpack which held a first aid kit, and started to clean Sonic's wound.

* * *

They didn't talk. It wasn't that it was awkward or anything; it was a nice silence. They both knew that each other was at peace. That was enough.  
Amy had just finished wrapping the gauze on Sonic's arm, when he spoke.

"Amy...What you did out there was great. Thank you for wrapping my arm up, too. I appreciate it..." Sonic said, staring into her jade orbs.

"Y-you're welcome," Amy said, lost in his emerald eyes.

"I'm gonna call, Tails," Sonic said, turning his gaze towards his wrist communicator.

"Come in, Tails," Sonic said. "Do you read me?"

"Yes, Sonic. Are you and Amy alright?" Tails asked.

"Just fine. Where are you, Rouge and Omega?"

"We're at the Marketplace Inn. Rouge just woke up. Hurry and meet us here!" Tails said.

"Alright, buddy. We'll be there in about thirty seconds," Sonic told his best friend. He then, picked Amy up in his lanky, apricot arms, and started to run, causing a sonic boom.

* * *

Sonic and Amy had just arrived at the Chun-Nan Marketplace Inn.

"Sonic! Amy!" Tails greeted.

"Hiya, buddy," Sonic grinned back, setting Amy down.  
"What's that?" Tails asked, frowning. Sonic realized that his kitsune friend was talking about his arm.

"Long story... So... how did you two end up talking to Robuttnik?" Sonic asked Rouge and Omega.

"Well, my inner jewel hunter was telling me that there was a treasure that needed an owner in Chun-Nan. I saw Omega along the way and I decided to let him tag along. I was just about to get my hands on that gem when the Doctor came out of nowhere, mumbling about the Kingdom Mercia-" Rouge was interrupted.

"The Kingdom Mercia?" Amy asked alarmed. You see, Amy's cousin, leader of the Mercian Freedom Fighter's, Rob 'O Hedge, lived there.

"What about Mercia?" Sonic asked.

"He just said about that being his next stop after he stole my treasure," Rouge pouted.

"We have to go there, then! We can't let Robotnik get there!" Amy cried.

"We'll get there as soon as possible," Sonic told the inconsolable girl.

"Tomorrow morning, we'll leave bright and early to head there. We need sleep," Tails yawned. "It's a good thing I repaired the Tornado." Amy nodded, but still looked worried.

_Don't worry, Ames, we'll check it out tomorrow_, Sonic thought to himself. The trio then, bid farewell to Rouge and Omega, who were heading back to Central City, and went to bed.

* * *

**PM me questions if you need to. If you don't know a certain character that I might mention, PM me. I'm using A LOT of characters from Archie and Unleashed, so you might not know who I'm talking about. Just look it up on Sonic wikia, or ask me. Please Review. I WANT to know your thoughts/concerns. Next chapter will pick up with the Team Fighter's flying to Mercia. I hope you enjoyed chapter 3. Have a nice day!:)**


	4. Night In Holoska: Blizzards Aren't Fun

**School's out, people. More time to update...**

**ALRIGHT! Before you ask, yes, this chapter had to be broken up into two parts. I didn't want this one chapter to become a run-on chapter because I hate it when chapters drag. Anyways, this has A LOT of Sonic Unleashed references to it. NO. Sonic will NOT become the werehog in this story. This chapter takes place in the Kingdom of Mercia (Archie), Spagonia (Unleahed), AND Holoska (Unleashed). Marketa and her family are REAL Sonic characters that live in Holoska. I'd recommend googling them on Sonic Wikia right now before reading. Mari-An and Rob 'O Hedge are Amy's cousins (Mari-An by marriage). Look that up on Mobius Encyclopedia.**

**I made up the Land of The Fallen Holoskians and the Elder, by the way...**

**ANYWAYS, ENOUGH WITH THE BORING TALK!**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter. Review please!**

* * *

**-Normal POV-**

The group of friends had just landed in the Kingdom of Mercia, and let me be the first to say, it was was truly horrifying. It was a ghost town, as there were no Mobians in sight. The place was ransacked too. Like it had been set on fire.

"Who are thee?" a cold, harden voice said. Sonic and his friends turned around to face the speaker.

"Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog," the blue hero introduced. "And that's Tails and-"

"Amy?" the speaker asked, removing it's hood. The light showed a scarlet echidna with cyan eyes.

"Mari-An!" Amy gasped. She ran up to the echidna and pulled her in for a long hug.

"Oh, Amy. I'm glad to see you're alright!" Mari-An sighed in relief.

"W-where's Rob? And what's happened to Mercia?" Amy asked, pulling away.

"I don't know. Rob and about over half of the Mercian freedom fighters went missing last night, and I don't know why. Doctor Robotnik came and lit the town of Snottingham on fire... Oh, Rob... he'd of never let this happen..." Mari-An wailed, shamefully.

"Don't worry, Mari-An. The freedom fighters from Republic of Acorn have gone missing, too. And that's why we're here. We're on a mission to find them...Did Rob leave anything that might lead us to a conclusion?" Sonic asked. Mari-An nodded.

"He said that a professor in Spagonia had been talking to him lately..." Mari-An confessed.

"You mean Professor Pickle?" Tails asked, his ears perking up. "I could fly over to Spagonia and talk to him. Maybe he knows something."

"But what about the second chaos emerald?" Sonic asked.

"It's in Holoska," Tails confirmed. "You and Amy could go there while I fly to Spagonia. We'll then meet up."

"Sounds fine with me. You up for it Ames?" Sonic asked.

"Of course," she said.

"Well, I must bid you farewell, Amy. I wish you all good luck on your mission. Bring him back to Mercia..." Mari-An pleaded.

"We will. Don't you worry," Sonic promised.

* * *

_(With Sonic and Amy...)_

Tails had just dropped them off in Holoska. Amy had changed from her dress into her Extreme Gear wear, but with a jacket instead of a tank top. She also had a scarf and ear muffs. Sonic, on the other hand, wore the typical nothing, though, in fact, he did sport a navy blue scarf.

Sonic and Amy just entered the village when a little girl came up to Amy.

"Woah! Real Mobians!" the little girl cried, as she twirled Amy's quills. This caused Amy to giggle and Sonic to full out laugh.

"What's your name?" Amy asked the little girl.

"Marketa. You're so pretty," the girl said with envy and awe.

"Thank you. And I like your name, Marketa. I'm Amy...and this is my friend, Sonic," Amy smiled.

"Want to come to my igloo?" Marketa asked the hedgehogs.

"I'd love to, but I have to do something with Sonic, right now. Maybe another time," Amy promised. The little girl frowned but said,

"Alright. It was nice to meet you!" She ran off to her parents and Amy and Sonic were alone again.

"She was so cute," Amy said, referring to the little Holoskian girl.

"She was," Sonic smiled. "Well, we'd better get going." Amy nodded at him and the duo started to walk into the cave (Entrance Stage) that would lead them to the emerald.

* * *

_(With Tails...)_

Tails had just landed his plane before the entrance to Spagonia, when suddenly, someone came over to him.

"Ahh. Miles, is it? The professor has been waiting!" Professor Pickle's assistant greeted him.

"You can just call me Tails."

"Very well...Tails. Right along this way, please," the assistant led the way to the university. Professor Pickle's assistant kept chatting to Tails the entire way, but Tails wasn't exactly listening. He was looking at the buildings, the culture, and of course, the people. It was a pretty day; clear skies and a glimmering sun, but Tails was too busy worrying about Sally and the other freedom fighters to particularly care about the weather.

"And we're here!" the assistant said in a thick Spagonian accent. He and Tails walked up the stairs, to the entrance, by the Corinthian columns.

"Professor Pickle! Mile- I mean Tails and I have arrived!" the professor's assistant called.

"Ah! Tails!" the professor grinned.

"Good afternoon, Professor Pickle!" Tails smiled back.

"I have a good idea of why you've stopped by," the professor said, his face turning grim.

"Y-you do?" Tails asked, stiffening.  
"Yes. It is about the disappearances of your people, I presume? The freedom fighters?"  
"Yes, sir. Princess Sally Acorn of the Republic of Acorn, and the leader, Rob 'O Hedge of the Mercian freedom fighters have gone missing, alongside a bunch of other freedom fighters. I have come here to see if you knew anything about it..." Tails said, trailing off.

"I don't know anything in particular, my boy, but I do know this; the United Federation has been going through the same thing. Mayor Bullyani of Station Square, the President of the United Federation, and Princess Elise the III of Soleanna have disappeared, too. G.U.N. doesn't know what to make of it, but they wanted to get in contact with your cobalt friend. G.U.N. is in Central City right now. Ask to speak to Abraham Tower, or the Commander as most call him. Tell him that the professor sent you."

"Alright. Thank you very much, professor," Tails said, exiting the university.

"I'd better get to Central City, fast!" Tails said, twirling his twin tails to get to his plane.

* * *

_(With Sonic and Amy...)_

"Have you found it yet?" Amy asked, shivering.

"No. I mean, the radar is saying to go left, but it must still be pretty far away. And I can't run because I left my traction shoes in the Tornado..." Sonic said, mentally kicking himself. It was already dark out and really hard to see. Did I mention that it was snowing? As the snow came down harder and harder, all Amy could see was white. Sonic grabbed her hand making her blush violently and said,

"We're in the middle of a blizzard. We can't go on much further, so we'll have to stop for the night." Amy nodded. Sonic pulled Amy into a nearby cave, and started a fire with matches that were inside his backpack.

* * *

They had been inside the cave around the fire for about two hours.

"When do you think the storm will let up?" Amy asked.

"I don't know. Maybe a few more hours," Sonic answered. They lapsed back into silence.

* * *

Sonic soon enough, noticed Amy shivering.

_I should've packed a blanket_, he thought to himself. He wasn't affected by the cold because he'd been in worse conditions, but Amy on the other hand, hadn't.

"Amy?" he asked.

"Y-yeah?" her teeth chattered. He got up and sat behind her.

"Do you mind?" he asked as he put his arms around her in a hugging position; an attempt to save her from hypothermia.

"N-no," she said, laying her head on his chest. Heat rose to Sonic's face, but he didn't run this time. Partly because there was nowhere _to_ run and partly because he kind of, well...maybe... didn't want to.

"Sonic...do you like me?" Amy asked, her teeth still chattering, but not as much.

"Well, of course I do, Amy. You're one of my best friends," Sonic said. He feared that question. A _lot_.

"Not what I meant." He could hear the frustration in her voice. "I mean do you _like_ me?"

"Amy..." Sonic whined.

"Please tell me," Amy begged.

"I hate the idea of dating; you know that. I'm way too busy to be even _thinking_ about girls. And I would hate to leave you behind when I'm off fighting Robotnik every other week... I couldn't do that to anyone, again..." Sonic was obviously referring to his past relationship with Sally.

"But if you want the truth, if I did have time for a relationship, you'd be the person I'd choose to have it with." Those were words that Amy took very seriously.

"You...you really mean it?" Amy asked, turning her face so she could see him.

"Every word," Sonic answered. He felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

"Don't slow down one bit, Sonic the Hedgehog. I can keep up. And I can also wait..." Amy said. Sonic couldn't believe what she had said. She'd wait for him. Of course, he didn't want to make her wait, but she'd be willing to.  
"Ames-" Sonic started but was cut off by...

"_Come in to the fire_..." a faint voice interrupted.

"What was that?" Amy asked.

"I think it's Tikal," Sonic said, leaning both him and Amy towards the fire. A flash of the same blinding white light appeared.

* * *

When the light faded, the hedgehogs were in the same Ancient Echidna Ruins that Sonic had been in a couple of nights ago, but it was daytime now. Tikal was sitting on the ground 12 feet away, with four chao.

"Hello, Sonic. Amy, it's been awhile," Tikal forced a weak smile.

"Hello, Tikal," Amy smiled back.

"I know you guys are having trouble finding the emerald because of the storm, but you must hurry! The emerald will fall into the wrong hands if you do not get there in time. Head towards the Land of the Fallen Holoskians. You shall find the answer there...in the distant future..."

The white light appeared again.

* * *

Sonic and Amy were back in the cave. The fire had died out, and it was morning. The blizzard had ended, too.

"Tikal said we will find the answer at the Land of the Fallen Holoskians... I wonder what that means..." Amy said.

"I'm pretty sure that's where the emerald might be. But we might wanna go back to the village of Holoska to find out from the villagers where this so-called place is," Sonic said. Amy, agreed.

* * *

When the hedgehogs got back to the village, they saw a male Holoskian standing outside of an igloo.

"Uh, excuse me, but do you know where the Land of the Fallen Holoskians is?" Sonic asked.

"Why of course I do. Hey! You're that werehog that saved Mobius a few months back, aren't you?" the man said.

"Heh. Yup Sonic the _Hedgehog_."

"Well I'm Jari-Thurne and my, my... Who is this charming young lady you have with you, young man?" Both Sonic and Amy blushed at Jari-Thurne's words.

"This is my friend Amy Rose," he said.

"Well... About your trip to the Land of Fallen Holoskians... How about I take you both myself! I need to get out of here, anyways-" Jari-Thurne was interrupted by-

"What do you mean get out of here?!" a woman yelled.

"Hello, honey...erm, uh, Sonic! Amy! Meet my beautiful wife, Sarianna!" the man said, nervously.

"What is your business here?" Sarianna asked the two hedgehogs skeptically.

"We just needed directions to get to the Land of the Fallen Holoskians, and your husband offered to take us," Sonic explained.

"Well..." the wife said, softening up a bit, "be careful. I don't need you hurt..."

"Amy!" a high-pitched voice called. Both Amy and Sonic turned around to see Marketa, running towards them.

"Amy! I missed you!" the little girl cried, locking Amy in a death grip.

"Now you know how it feels," Sonic smirked. Amy shot him a look and turned back to the little girl.

"I missed you, too!" Amy said, hugging the little girl back.

"You've met before?" Sarianna said, crossing her arms, her eyes narrowing.

"Sonic has told me all about his adventures! Especially when he came here as the werehog!" Marketa explained, referring back to when Sonic was a werehog.

"Well, I'm about to take Sonic and Amy on an adventure. Would you like to come with us, Marketa?" Jari-Thurne asked his daughter.

"Yes! I get to come on an adventure? Yay!" Marketa squealed.

"Be careful, you two," Sarianna said to her husband and daughter before heading back inside her igloo.

"Okay. I'll get my sled, and we'll be on our way, kids," Jari-Thurne said.

* * *

The group of four had been on the sled for about 30 minutes, and Sonic was getting antsy. He hated not being able to run. It was like taking away your right arm.

"Are we almost there yet?" Sonic asked, impatiently.

"Yes, hero. It's right over there." Jari-Thurne pointed straight in front of him. A graveyard lay ahead, a tiny temple-like house right next to it.

"Um...Do you mind telling me what the Land of the Fallen Holoskians is for?" Amy asked, frowning at all the tombstones.

"Well, it's not just the animal Mobians who fight in the Great War. So do the Holoskians. Whenever a Holoskian, native to our village dies in the Great War, they're buried here. A great honor, but a great tragedy," Jari Thune, explained.

"Oh..." Amy said.

"Now, if you don't mind telling me, why do need to come here?" Jari-Thune asked.

"Well... we're not actually sure ourselves. A friend told us that the answer lies here..." Sonic answered.

"Why of course it does, champ! Didn't you know?"

"Know what?" Sonic asked.

"The elder of the village lives here, of course! He has visions about the future which helps the peoples of Holoska. That must be what your friend was talking about," Jari-Thurne said, slowing the sled down.

"Must be..." Sonic agreed, helping both Amy and Marketa off of the sled.

* * *

They walked up towards the small temple-like house where the elder of Holoska lived. It was a tanish-apricot color and had 6 Doric columns.

"Who goes?" a small weak voice said.

"It is, I, Jari-Thurne," Marketa's father said.

"And you have the hero of Mobius with you," the weak voice said. It wasn't really a question, since the elder already knew.

"Show yourself," Sonic called, not wanting to play games. A tiny man of about three feet tall came out from behind the temple column.

"I've been expecting you, Sonic the Hedgehog," the elder said.

* * *

**So this was part one of Chapter 4. Next chapter WILL be considered chapter 5, just continued. It will pick up RIGHT where we left off. If you have ANY questions, whatsoever, just PM me. I'll respond. Review; tell me what you like, what you don't like, and how I'm doing. Have a nice day!:)**


	5. Saving Kwod: Mazuri Days

**I present Chapter 5. This is a cont'd chapter but it's still Chapter 5. We pick up Right where we left off. In this chapter, we go to Central City and Mazuri, alongside starting the chapter off in Holoska. Look these cities up if you don't know what they look like. It'll help a lot. PM me questions/concerns. I hope you enjoy Chapter 5!**

* * *

**-Normal POV-**

_(With Sonic and Amy...)_

"Y-you have?" Sonic asked. How could someone who didn't know him, be waiting for him?

"Yes, and I believe you have come for this, hmm?" the elder whipped out a yellow chaos emerald. Sonic and Amy's jaw dropped.

"You have the emerald?" Amy asked, in shock.

"Why of course I do. And I've been waiting for your blue lover to get here for the past week so I could give it to him." Both Amy and Sonic blushed violently at the elder's words.

"But, better late than never," the elder said, walking up to Sonic. "I trust that you shall save us from the terror soon to be caused, hmm?"

"Terror? What terror? Does this have to do with the freedom fighter's disappearances?" Sonic asked, as the elder handed him the golden-yellow chaos emerald.

"I mustn't say, my cobalt young man. You will soon find out from a friend... But do take my advice when I say:_ two_ great minds, are better than one..."

And with that, the elder went back into his temple-like home.

"What did he mean, 'two great minds are better than one?'" Sonic asked, Amy.

"Let's call Tails. He'd probably know," Amy advised.

* * *

_(With Tails...)_

The two-tailed kitsune had just landed in Central City, and was flying towards the Guardian Units of Nations (G.U.N.) HQ.

He saw two G.U.N. guards outside of the base. He flew down to them.

"Good afternoon-" he started.

"State your business!" both of the guards yelled, in sync.

"I'm here to see the Commander...Uh, Abraham Tower," he said, insecurely.

"And who are you?" one guard asked.

"Miles Prower; Sonic the Hedgehog's best friend. I need to speak to the Commander, immediately. Professor Pickle of Spagonia has sent me," Tails explained.

"Come with us," the other guard commanded.

* * *

The two guards brought Tails into the base, and into the main room.

"Commander, a fox by the name of Miles Prower is here to see you."

"Says Professor Pickle has sent him."

"Miles or Tails is it? I've heard of you. Sonic's pal, eh?" Commander Abraham Tower asked.

"Yes," Tails nodded, "Team Fighters and I are trying to piece together the disappearances that have been occurring, and Professor Pickle said that you know something. I, on behalf of Sonic, need to know everything."

"Everyone, OUT!" the commander ordered.

* * *

As soon as he and Tails were alone, he spoke.

"Lieutenant Naka and I discovered that it is indeed, Dr. Ivo Robotnik who is behind the disappearances. Watch this," Commander Tower said as he put a videotape into a VCR. He then turned on the T.V. to reveal a fat, egg shaped man on the screen.

_"HO-HO-HO_!" Robotnik cackled evilly. Tails grit his teeth at the screen.

"_So... I bet by now, you've all been wondering where the freedom fighters and world leaders are... They've seem to vanish out of thin air... Well, fortunately, they haven't. They are here, with me, in Eggmanland. You see, my quest for world domination has been seemingly impossible because all of Mobius' leaders are against me and my robot army, so I had a brilliant idea. What if, they joined me? So over the chorus of the past few weeks, I took them in the night by spraying them with my own chemical concoctions, and brought them to my base. They are all being roboticized as we speak_!" Robotnik disappeared from the screen to show the hundreds that were already roboticized. Tails gasped at the numbers. The screen went back to Robotnik.

"_Tell the blue rodent to bring me the emeralds and surrender, or fight my army of freedom fighters. His pick! HO-HO-HO_!" he laughed, sinisterly. The screen went blank.

"Now do you see the predicament?" Commander Tower asked.  
"I'll let Sonic know..." Tails said.

"And take this," Commander Tower handed Tails a pine green emerald. "Sonic will pick the best choice..."

* * *

The sun colored fox was flying back to his plane, when he got a call on his wrist communicator.

"Tails! Come in!" he heard Sonic's voice say, urgently.

"Sonic!" Tails cried.

"Good news: Amy and I found the yellow chaos emerald in Holoska-"

"I know what's happened to the freedom fighters!" Tails interrupted.

* * *

Tails had just picked up his friends in Holoska, and they were flying in the Tornado, to a new destination.

"So let me get this straight," Sonic said, "Robotnik is robotizing Sally and the other freedom fighters, alongside the major leaders of the United Fed.?"

"Yeah," Tails said. "Oh! And G.U.N. gave me the dark green emerald to give to you," Tails said, tossing the jewel to Sonic.

"When Sonic and I were in Holoska, we met this elder, and he told us 'two great minds are greater than one'. What do you think he was getting at?" Amy asked Tails.

_Two great minds are greater than one?_ Tails thought. _2 great minds..._

"I got it!" Tails shouted.

"What?" Sonic asked.

"2 great minds! Robotnik said that he is robotizing his prisoners. The only way to get them back to normal is to de-robotize them! And the only way to do that is to get two people who know how to do that. I'm a great mind and so is your Uncle Chuck; the creator of the Roboticizer. If Chuck could make the original version, he'd know how to reverse it," Tails concluded.

"You got all that from seven words?" Sonic asked, dumbfounded. Tails nodded at his best friend.

"Yeah. When we land in Mazuri, I'll call Chuck and tell him to get started on the de-roboticizer," Tails said.

"Mazuri?" Amy asked.

"That's where the fourth emerald is located," Tails confirmed.

"Great! I've been wanting to go back there," Sonic grinned.

* * *

The team of three had just landed in Mazuri. The savanna area was beautiful as it glistened in the midday sun. The adobe-like houses stood tall and grand. A few Mazurians played the bongos by the big tree in the center of the small village. Tails had waited by the plane to call Sonic's Uncle Chuck, while Sonic and Amy entered the village.

"It's amazing here!" Amy exclaimed.

"Sure is," Sonic agreed. They then saw a old man in the corner with his eyes closed.

"Uh, sir... Are you alright?" Sonic asked.

"Don't talk to him!" a young woman shrieked, running up to the heroes.

"I'm sorry-"

"Don't listen to my daughter," the older man said, smiling at the group.

"But, father," the woman said, "You said that you're sensing something very important! And with Kwod missing, you need to concentrate!"

"Ana, I'm sure Kwod's just exploring. After all, he did want to go back to the place where he found that strange gem..." the old man spoke.

_Strange gem?_ Sonic thought. _A chaos emerald? _Tails rejoined his two best friends and said,

"Chuck is starting the de-roboticizer. When we find the last chaos emerald, we'll head back to the Republic of Acorn and pick it up," the fox informed. Sonic nodded, and spoke to the older man who was still standing across from him.

"Good afternoon, sir. I'm Sonic and these are my friends, Tails and Amy. Who exactly are you?"

"Why, young man, I'm Kwami-"

"And I'm Ana," his daughter said. "Please concentrate father." Kwami closed his eyes again, but started to shake furiously after a while.

"What do you see, father?" Ana asked Kwami.

"Kwod! The boy is in trouble! We must get to the savanna citadel immediately!" Kwami explained.

"Don't worry, Kwami. Team Fighters will have Kwod back in no time," Sonic flashed the elderly man a thumbs up and grabbed Amy and Tails' wrists. He then, took off running, into the Mazuri savanna.

* * *

"HELP ME!" a boy's voice screamed. Sonic came to a halt in front of four SWAT-bots who were circled around a Mazurian boy.

"So look who's back?" Sonic grinned. "Did Robuttnik send you all of to do his dirty work again?"

"SONIC-THE-HEDGEHOG-WILL-BE-TERMINATED!" one of the SWAT-bots said in a robotic voice.

"In your dreams!" the blue hedgehog said, arrogantly. He had all four SWAT-bots in the air with a Sonic Wind, and then homing attacked them all. He did a flip out of the air, and landed on the ground. Sonic then turned to the little boy, who was holding a clear rock in his hands.

"You're Kwod, right?" Sonic asked. The little boy nodded.

"What's that, ya got there?" Tails asked Kwod.

"A-a gem I found a few nights ago. And those mean robots wanted to take it from me!" the little boy said.

"Kwod. Do you know who I am?" Sonic asked.

"Of course I do! You're Sonic the Hedgehog! You saved the people of Mazuri from Dark Gaia a few months back!" the kid looked at the blue teen in awe.

"Yup. But now I need your help, Kwod. You see, a few of my friends have gone missing-"  
"Like Princess Elise?" Kwod interrupted, his eyes wide.

"Yeah, buddy. Just like Elise... And my two best friends over here, are trying to help get them back. But you see... we have a problem. We are searching for the jewels called chaos emeralds... And you seem to have picked one up..." Sonic said, motioning towards the gem in the kid's hands.

"You need my rock?" the kid asked, taking a step back.

"Yes, Kwod. It'd be doing me a huge favor if we could have it," Sonic said, his tone a bit more serious than usual.

"Alright, Mr. Sonic. Be careful! And get a few good strikes at Dr. Eggman for me!" Kwod told Sonic, handing him the clear chaos emerald.

"Thanks, Kwod. Want us to take you back to the village?" Sonic asked.

"Yes, please!" Kwod grinned.

"Let's go fast," Sonic said as the boy climbed onto his back. "Tails! You got Amy?"

"Yup!" the twin-tailed fox grinned.

"Let's go..." Sonic said, causing a sonic boom.

* * *

Sonic and his two friends had taken Kwod back to the village of Mazuri, and were up in the air in no time.

"Where to now?" Sonic asked the pilot.

"Well, my radar has tracked the emerald in the city of Apotos," Tails answered.

"I've always wanted to go there!" Amy grinned.

"Well... You'll love it here, Ames. I don't even like water, yet the ocean view is amazing..." Sonic smiled at her. She blushed at his sincere smile.  
Tails could tell something was up with them, but decided not to question it, for fear of Amy's hammer.

The group of three, then, set out to find the final chaos emerald, in the spectacular city of Apotos.

* * *

**How'd you like Chapter 5, reader? I'd like to know your thoughts. I respond to PMs and Reviews. So far, Team Fighters (Sonic, Tails and Amy) have found four of the five chaos emeralds (Clear, yellow, blue, dark green). Robotnik/Eggman has the other two. So I know it might come off as strange to you that Sonic just randomly accepted the whole 'save Kwod' mission, but if you think about it, none of the games usually explain why they do certain things (Sonic '06... or Shadow in general) so I didn't think it would be too big a deal. Anyhoo, next chapter will pick up with the group heading to Apotos. **Look that city up too if you don't know what it looks like***. I own none of the Overlanders that have been used except for Lieutenant Naka (Anyone know who that's a reference to? I'll reveal next chapter.) Anyways, see ya soon for Chapter 6. Have a nice day!:)**


	6. The De-Robotizer Has Arrived: The Truth

**I am back everyone. This chapter will start off with the team arriving in Apotos. Mr. Know-It-All of Sonic Adventure stars in this chapter, alongside Alexis, a boy from Sonic Unleashed. PM me questions/concerns. REVIEW, please. **

* * *

**-Normal POV-**

"WOO!" Sonic yelled, standing up on the left wing of the tornado, instead of his usual crouching stance.

_He's so dreamy..._ Amy thought, drooling.

"We've just arrived in Apotos," Tails grinned, stating the obvious. The Greek inspired city was beautiful underneath the early morning sun.

"I wanna live here!" Amy said, turning her attention away from her hero, and focusing more on the city. The blue water was a pretty cyan color.

* * *

When the trio was over land, Tails said,

"So I've tracked the emerald to be in the windmill fields."

"Great! The quicker we find this emerald, the quicker we save our friends," Amy grinned.

_I hope you're okay, Sal_, Sonic thought. Amy saw Sonic's expression and rubbed his arm.

"She'll be okay," the pale pink hedgehog comforted him. Sonic nodded.

If there was one thing Sonic, or anybody, liked about Amy, it was her optimism. Or, her way with people, rather.

"Thanks, Ames," Sonic said with a genuine smile.

"We have arrived!" Tails said, unaware of their previous conversation.  
"Way past cool!" Sonic smirked, jumping off the wing of the Tornado. He prefered to run alongside of it when he could, rather than crouch on the side.

* * *

"AHHH! SOMEBODY! HELP ME!" a boy screamed.

"Nobody will come if you scream, '_HELP_'! You need to scream '_FIRE_'! Statistics show that if you say that, more people will tend to look," another boy said. He sounded like he knew everything and had an answer to everything.

"EMERALD-DETECTED!" a familiar, robotic voice yelled. The voice sounded too polite to be a mech, but it was.

* * *

Sonic and his two friends heard the commotion, though they were a bit aways.

"You hear that?" Sonic asked, a confused expression appeared on his face.

"Yeah," Tails said.

"EMERALD-DETECTED!"

"That sounded like Cream!" Amy's eyes widened.

"FIRE!" two different voices screamed. They were not in unison; just blood-curdling cries of horror.

"Let's go check that out," Sonic said, slightly alarmed.

* * *

Tails flew overhead of the scene where the noise was being heard. Sonic being on the ground, just went up to the problem. Amy, however, jumped out of the plane, landing on her feet.

"HELP US!" a kid in a red and white striped shirt said.  
"Cream?" Amy asked the mech. The robot was an exact replica of the six year old rabbit. Only it was a metallic death machine with red orbs instead of chocolate colored ones.

"GIVE-ME-THE-EMERALD-AND-NO-ONE-GETS-HURT!" the roboticized Cream screeched.  
"Robotnik must've gotten her," Sonic said through clenched teeth.

"Cream! Stop it," Amy pleaded as Cream took the boy in the strip's friend.

"GIVE-ME-THE-EMERALD-PLEASE!"

Sonic needed to think of a plan. He needed to save the boys and get the emerald, but he didn't want to hurt Cream. The mech-rabbit then reached for the kid's throat.

"DON'T HURT HIM!" the boy in the strips yelled as Cream the Robot Rabbit strangled him.

Sonic couldn't take it anymore. He roundhoused Cream, knocking her backwards, making her lose her grasp on the kid. She also lost her grip on the red emerald she had, causing it to fall on the ground.

Amy, then, grabbed the emerald and the two kids.

"Leave, Amy!" Sonic instructed.

"I'm not leaving you," Amy said. "Not now. Not ever." Sonic felt something inside him change. He had her forever. He then nodded as Cream got up.

"CHAO-ATTACK-ACTIVATED!" the mech announced. Where her stomach should've been, there was an opening. A robotic Cheese flew out.

"What're you gonna do? Make it squeeze me to death?" Sonic snorted. The chao's blue eyes, turned red, and it's mouth opened to reveal razor sharp teeth.

"Damn," Sonic muttered. The chao started to chase him around. He knew this had to end soon, because Metal Cream would start to attack soon if he didn't. He then, wound himself up, and did a Sonic Wind, locking the Chao in the gusts of wind. He, of course, didn't want to hurt his chao friend, but he needed Cheese, out of the way, and this was the safest way.

Cream, lunged at him, in anger, but Sonic kicked her to the ground, making two emeralds inside of the young rabbit's stomach opening, fall out.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" a voice screamed. Sonic, Amy, and the two boys looked and saw a wide-eyed, opened-mouth fox standing there, as if he had just been shot. He had landed his plane about a mile away, so he had just gotten to his friends. He pushed past both Amy and Sonic up to the rabbit mech.

"WHY DID YOU HURT HER?!" Tails screamed at his best friend.

"She was going to hurt people! She's still in one piece! We got the emerald and the two boys are okay-"

"Actually, I am very shaken up," one of the boys said. It was the same boy who had acted like he knew everything earlier.

"What's your name, kid?" Sonic asked.

"I'm Mr. Know-It-All of Station Square. And this is my troublemaker friend, Alexis," Mr. Know-It-All said, motioning to the kid in the striped shirt.

"I'm-" the blue hedgehog was interrupted by...

"Sonic the Hedgehog. Everybody knows you," Mr. Know-It-All rolled his eyes. "And that's Miles Prower. He saved Station Square from that missile bomb! And let me guess. You are Sonic's girlfriend!" Sonic ignored the ignorant kid and looked back at Tails who was kneeling on the ground next to Cream, holding her robotic hand.

"Why... why isn't she moving?" Tails whispered.

"When I knocked her back, two emeralds fell out of her stomach opening. Maybe they powered her..." Sonic said.

"I...Is she gonna be okay?" Amy asked, worry consuming her.

"Well-" Sonic was interrupted by hit wrist communicator.

_"Sonny! Come in!_" Uncle Chuck sang through the device.

"Uncle Chuck, now's not a really good time-"

"_I've just created the De-Roboticizer, sonny_!" he said, not listening to his nephew. Tails' ears perked up.

"Well that's great Uncle Chuck!" Sonic's frown grew into a full out grin.

"_Stop by whenever you need to pick it up_," Chuck said.

"Well stop by soon," Sonic said, ending the conversation.

"Oh, no!" Tails said.

"What is it?" Amy asked.

"The emeralds haven't had time to get used to each other yet! I'm gonna have to take them to Knuckles' in the echidna ruins so he can control them under the power of the master emerald. He might be able to enhance their powers, too," Tails said to Amy. He completely ignored Sonic.

"Well, we'd better get going to visit my uncle. We need that de-roboticizer," Sonic said, confused by the silent treatment given to him by his friend.

"Take this," he pulled out a golden yellow chaos emerald, and tossed it to Amy. "This is the fake emerald from ARK. It has the same properties and wavelengths as a real chaos emerald. This way, I can just take the jewels to Knuckles without having to drop you three off in the Republic of Acorn," Tails explained. He turned and looked at Cream in her metal form once again. He whispered something, and then flew off to his plane, with all seven chaos emeralds.

Sonic didn't know why Tails had given him the silent treatment until Amy spoke.

"He'll forgive you, Sonic. He knows you weren't trying to hurt her," Amy smiled sadly at the rabbit on the ground.

_So that's what he's upset about_, Sonic thought, feeling a twinge of guilt. He nodded and picked up Cream's limp body.

"Let's go," Amy said, handing him the fake chaos emerald. She then, clutched onto his arm, making him blush, slightly.

"CHAOS-"

* * *

"-CONTROL!" Sonic finished. The whitish green light disappeared. Sonic, Amy, and Metal Cream were in front of Uncle Chuck's house.

"Uncle Chuck! We're here!" Sonic said as Amy opened the front door for him.

"Sonny! Amy! How are you-" he stopped speaking when he saw the roboticized rabbit in Sonic's arms.

"Vanilla has been worried sick!" Chuck said, sorrow in his eyes.

"Well, we're lucky we found her. She was beating up some little kids for the red chaos emerald..." Sonic said, keeping the tone light. Uncle Chuck went into the living room, and came back with a gun-like beam.

"Here...is the de-roboticizer, phase one. You see something roboticized, you shoot it. It gives the captured their mind-set back and they won't hurt you voluntarily. When we shoot Cream with this, she'll think like her former self, but still be robotized," Chuck explained.

"So they're still gonna be stuck as robots?" Sonic asked, frowning upon the rabbit in his arms.

"There's where you're wrong, sonny. Phase two of the de-roboticizer, is in the basement. It works just like the roboticizer, only it does the opposite. Because Cream isn't trying to kill us, we can skip phase one, and just go to phase two."

"Well, then. What are we waiting for?" Sonic grinned.

* * *

The two blue hedgehogs put the young bunny in the capsule, and turned on the de-roboticizer. Smoke filled the capsule, and the Cream mech was no longer visible.

When the smoke cleared about a minute later, the rabbit was back to her usual skin and fur, though she was still unconscious.

"It worked!" Amy squealed.

"Why of course it did, young lady! When Tails gave me some advice on how to reverse it, I figured it out!" Chuck smiled.

"Just like the elder said," Sonic said remembering 'two great minds are better than one'.

"Well, I'm exhausted, so I'm gonna get some shut eye. Goodnight you, two," Chuck said, exiting the basement.

"I'll put Cream in the guest room," Sonic said, taking the rabbit upstairs, as she had still not gained consciousness from the fight with Sonic.

* * *

Amy stayed in the basement, when she began to hear yelling from upstairs.

"Well I'm SORRY! I was trying to save two KIDS and every single freedom fighter that got ROBOTICIZED INCLUDING HERSELF!" Sonic yelled into his wrist communicator.

Amy sighed. Tails was upset that Sonic round housed Cream. Yes, she, too, was a little shocked, but he did it to distract her. He did not to intentionally hurt her. And she would be fine. She didn't even feel it.

"_How would you feel if it was AMY that had been roboticized and then I went up and roundhoused her? You would KILL ME_!" Tails snapped, angrily.

"I tried to do what's RIGHT! I'm sorry I don't have a guide for what to do if your best friend's girlfriend has been roboticized and you have to decide whether to kick her or let her strangle a kid! Too bad they don't make those!"

"_AND you call yourself a HERO_!" Tails screamed, hanging up.

Amy felt sad for what just happened. They rarely ever fought. The door to the basement opened and Sonic came in.

"You heard that didn't you?" Sonic asked, half embarrassed, half upset. Amy nodded.

"It's okay. People fight. You'll both be over it soon, though. Your friendship is pretty strong," Amy said.

"I hope so," Sonic said.

* * *

Sonic led Amy up to his room to get her pajamas since sleeping in a short red dress wasn't the best choice of sleepwear. Sonic gave Amy a Crush 40 T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. She changed into them (in the bathroom, of course) and came back into his room.

"If Cream's in the guest room, where will I sleep?" Amy asked, brushing her quills..

"With me," Sonic said. Realizing what he said, he blushed deeply, "I, er, um, not like that... Uh...-" Amy hopped onto the bed, and patted a seat so Sonic would sit on the opposite end, to save the cobalt hedgehog from anymore further embarrassment. He smiled, glad she knew what he meant, and took his shoes off. He left his gloves and socks on, and turned off the light.

"Thanks for coming on this mission, Ames. You've kept me more positive on this," Sonic said.

"You're welcome, Sonic," Amy replied, "It's weird seeing you... less confident."  
"Heh. I know what you mean. It's just with so many of our friends gone... Look, I just don't want anybody to get hurt..."

"They won't," Amy said. Sonic place his hand on hers, making her blush.

"Amy..." Sonic said as she rubbed his leg. He started to sort of purr, making her giggle.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing," she tried to compose herself, failing.

"You think my purring is funny?" he said in a mock upset voice, making her laugh even more. She nodded.  
"Well, then-" he said, jumping on top of her, tickling her.

"S-Sonic! S-st-op i-IT!" she giggle shrieked.

* * *

When Sonic thought she'd been through enough, he got off of her.

"That'll teach you not to mess with me, Ames," he laughed.

"Come here," she said, patting a seat next to her. Sonic moved over to where she was.

"Close your eyes," Amy said.

"You're not gonna chain me to the bed, are you?" Sonic teased.

"No! That was one time only," Amy explained. Sonic sighed, but closed his eyes. Amy then whispered something in his ear.

"Count to 200. Then open your eyes," she said. Her lips brushed up against Sonic's ear, making him develop goosebumps.

"Uh, okay," he managed.

* * *

_(With Tails...)_

Tails was still upset with Sonic. Tails knew he shouldn't have been mad at Sonic, but seeing him kick Cream was shocking. It made the kitsune sad. He would not let anybody, not even his best friend, hurt her, roboticized or not. The duo rarely fought, so this was a whole new feeling.

He put his thoughts of Sonic aside when he realized that he had arrived on the floating islands; the echidna ruins.

"Tornado transform!" he called. The blue plane morphed into a large mech with the young fox inside of it.

"Tails! Is that you?" a husky voice asked, as the plane/mech/walker landed on the ground.

"Hiya, Knuckles!" Tails said, his mech body running up to the brick red echidna.

"What brings you here so late?" Knuckles asked his two-tailed friend.

"Well, Sonic, Amy and I have found all seven chaos emeralds... And... well, we need to use the Master Emerald to sync the emeralds together, and enhance their power," Tails explained, hoping the echidna would allow it.

"I guess, but it'll be awhile before I can do that. It may take until tomorrow morning at the latest..." Knuckles said.

"That'll be fine," Tails said as he pulled out all of the chaos emeralds and handed them to Knuckles. Knuckles, then, placed the seven chaos emeralds around the master emerald and they started to glow. A flash of white flashed.

* * *

When the light faded, Tails was standing alongside Knuckles, in the Ancient Echidna Ruins. Tikal was standing there.

"I instruct you to get five chaos emeralds, and you bring back seven. For that, I am impressed," she smiled. "But the next task, is much harder. All of whom Dr. Robotnik captured, are being held captive in the Crimson Carnival, or as some like to call it, Eggmanland. You must bring the de-roboticizer, phase one, and all seven chaos emeralds with you. Hopefully that will be enough," Tikal, said, starting to fade. The blinding white light appeared again.

* * *

_(With Sonic and Amy...)_

After the blue hero counted to 200 in his head, he opened his eyes. His room, was now, lit by candles. He smelled the air. A lavender aroma.

_Wonder what she's doing..._ Sonic thought. As if to answer his question, Amy said,

"Lavender helps relax the mind," she said in a calm voice. "Lay on your stomach," the sakura hedgehog instructed. Sonic complied, without a word, knowing what she was going to do. Amy then, got on top of him, and started to rub his back.

"I can tell you're stressed," she said, plainly, rubbing in between his two back quills. He tried his best not to purr, but it worked to no avail.

* * *

The massage worked. Sonic no longer felt the tension in his body.

"Thanks, Ames," he smiled at her. She then yawned, climbing off of his back. Sonic, instead of going to the opposite side of the bed, let her lay her head on his apricot chest.

"Goodnight, Sonic," Amy smiled.

"Goodnight, Amy," Sonic yawned back. The two hedgehogs fell asleep, in each other's arms.

* * *

_(Meanwhile, in Eggmanland...)_

"HO-HO-HO!" a familiar, sinister voice said.

"What are you laughing about Eggman? Sonic has all seven chaos emeralds. He'll just foil your plans like he has the past hundred times," Sally Acorn snarled, losing her patience for the egg-shaped genius. She crossed her arms against her chest.

"You seem to be missing something, princess!" Robotnik sneered. "Sonic is just delivering the emeralds to me, princess. You see, I manipulated the power of the master emerald, so that I could control Tikal. It seems our heroes trusts her, so I've been using her, to get information to and from Team Fighters. HO-HO-HO! And Sonic doesn't know! I've made Tikal tell foxboy, that the freedom fighters are in Eggmanland, when really, they're being held captive in my new and improved base in Soleanna. So tomorrow, when Sonic and his two pals get here, I'll steal the emeralds, while you attack them! HO-HO-HO!" Robotnik cackled.

"What do you mean, 'when I attack them'?" Sally, said, her folded arms dropping to her sides.

"I am roboticizing you, princess! Besides, when I dp indeed robotize you, I can take over the Republic of Acorn. I'm thinking of a new name. How do you like, the Republic of Eggman? Sounds catchy, eh? HO-HO-HO!"

"Sonic'll never let you take over Mobius," Sally muttered.

"We'll see about that. You, will kill him, Sally, dear. Pinky and Foxboy included. 121-Sigma! Put Sally into the roboticizer, immediately!" Robotnik commanded. A gold robot grabbed Sally by her arms, and dragged her to the capsule. 121-Sigma, then pressed the on button. Smoke filled the capsule, till Sally was no longer visible. Her screams started to subside.

* * *

When the smoke faded away, a metallic Sally was staring blankly into space. Her beautiful, earthy brown fur was not shiny and hard. Her cyan blue eyes held zero kindness. 121-Sigma let her out of the capsule.

"Who is your master?" Robotnik asked, darkly.

"DR-ROBOTNIK-IS-MY-MASTER! MUST-KILL-SONIC-THE-HEDGEHOG!"

"HO-HO-HO!" the egg shaped man cackled. "Sonic the Hedgehog! You will bow down to me once and for all!"

* * *

**Did you like this chapter? Took me quite awhile, but I think its okay. Tikal is being controlled by Eggman/Robotnik, and telling Team Fighters information that Robotnik is giving her. She cannot help that she is being controlled. She is still classified as a hero though. If you have questions about characters, relationships, or even the de-roboticizer, inbox me. REVIEW, please. Have a nice day!:)**


	7. The Crimson Carnival: Re-Encounter

**Okay. I had so much freaking trouble with this chapter. I restarted it 12 times. That's right people. 12 times. I've decided to expand on this story, instead of using the original draft. I want to make it more of a dark-ish theme, like SatAm or Sonic Adventure 2: Battle. Anyways, I'll explain more at the bottom of the chapter. I hope you enjoy. **

**This chapter is dedicated to Project Wolfy :) **

* * *

**-Normal POV-**

Sonic woke up to the smell of cooking. Not just any cooking; Amy's cooking. He jumped up from his royal blue bed, and went downstairs, to the living room.

"There you are, sonny! I thought you'd died," Uncle Chuck joked.

"What time is it?" Sonic yawned, stretching his arms out.

"Two in the afternoon! You were tired," Chuck said.

"I had a really good sleep." Sonic, realizing what he said, blushed violently. Thankfully, Chuck didn't notice.

"Tails got here early this morning," Uncle Chuck told his nephew. "Hasn't left Cream's side, even though she's awake and doing fine..."

"Oh..." Sonic said. He and Tails obviously hadn't sort out their differences, yet. Uncle Chuck sighed.

"Amy told me about you and Tails. You'll work it out, sonny," Chuck said. "Amy made breakfast. They're in the other room," Chuck added.

"Alright," Sonic said, speeding into the kitchen.

"Good morning, Mr. Sonic!" Cream said, getting up from the table that she, Tails and Amy were sitting at.

"Hiya, Cream. How're ya feelin'?" Sonic grinned at the six year old rabbit.

"I'm feeling good, thank you. I'm so happy you saved me, Mr. Sonic!" Cream smiled, hugging the cobalt hedgehog. Sonic chuckled and hugged her back.

"Me, too, Cream. Me, too."

"Cream, I'd better take you back to your mother's house. Vanilla is worried sick," Uncle Chuck said, entering the kitchen.

"Alright. Bye Mr. Sonic," Cream said. Amy got up from the table and hugged Cream.

"Bye, Cream; bye, Cheese," Amy said.

"Bye, Amy."

"Chao, chao!"

"Goodbye, Tails," Cream said, walking over to the fox, and kissing his cheek. This action made both Sonic and Amy gasp.

"You don't have to worry anymore," she said.

"Er, uh, um, bye, uh, Cream," Tails stuttered, his face red. She giggled, and left the room with her chao.

"I'm gonna go pack my stuff for Eggmanland," Amy said, taking off for Sonic's room.

"Eggmanland?" Sonic asked Tails.

"Tikal visited me when I was with Knuckles. She said to bring the emeralds, and the de-robotizer to the Crimson Carnival; Eggmanland. That's where the freedom fighters are being held," Tails said.

"Oh," Sonic responded. They both lapsed into an uncomfortable silence.

"Sonic..." Tails said after a while, breaking the tension.

"Yeah?" Sonic asked, looking at Tails.

"Thank you... for saving her," the kitsune said.

"That's what I do," Sonic said, shortly. They lapsed back into another silence.

"Alright!" a cheery voice said, coming into the room. "I'm ready to leave!" Amy was dressed in shorts and a black T-shirt. She also had running shoes on.

"I'll get the Tornado ready," Tails muttered, leaving the room. Amy frowned, but then turned to Sonic.

"How was your sleep?" Amy asked.

"Uh, great," Sonic said. Amy grinned.

"I'm gonna grab my stuff. Save me a seat," Sonic winked. The sakura hedgehog rolled her eyes, smiling, and left the room. Sonic, then ran upstairs to grab his shoes and backpack, and the trio was off to Eggmanland; the Crimson Carnival.

* * *

We're right overhead of Eggmanland," Tails confirmed. Amy looked out of the side of the plane. The bright, flashy lights, reminded her of Casino Night, or Casinopolis. Even Bingo Highway. But something about this place was different. It held more of a dark presence then the other three did.

"I'm gonna land the plane one mile away from the entrance to the base," Tails said. "I will hack into Robotnik's control panel, and I'll manipulate all of all of the freedom fighter's programing. I will also take control of the camera's, so Robotnik won't know where you two are..."

"Amy will have the de-robotizer and will be shooting the mechs, giving them control of their minds again, while Sonic finds Eggman. Then we'll lock the Doctor up on the new and improved Prison Island. Simple-"

"Look who it is. Foxboy, Pinky, and-. Hiya, handsome. Long time, no see," a seductive voice purred. The group of three turned to face Rouge the Bat and Shadow the Hedgehog.

"Foxboy, Faker and... Rose," Shadow greeted. The way Shadow talked to Amy got under Sonic's skin, but as usual, he ignored it, and put on his cocky side grin.

"Hey, Prince of Death. Great to see you again, faker." Shadow almost smiled at Sonic's playful insults. Almost.

"How's it going, Blue," Rouge smiled her sly smile and traced a finger on Sonic's apricot chest. Amy was about to say something, when Sonic stepped in,

"I know you want the emeralds, Rouge. Tough luck."

"Darn! And I thought I had you this time," Rouge pouted.

"How'd you know we had the emeralds?" Tails asked.

"Well, Foxboy, call it my jewel hunter intuition..." Rouge grinned. Tails turned back to his hacking device.

"So why are you two here?" Amy asked Shadow.

"Princess Elise the Third, the President, and the Mayor of Station Square are being held captive by the Doctor. Commander Tower chose Rouge and I for this mission because we had ties to the Doctor at one point," Shadow explained. Sonic turned to Tails.

"Have you hacked in, yet?" he asked.

"Yeah. Let's get going," Tails said, putting away the tools needed to hack into the system away.

Sonic swung Amy up in his arms.

"Last one there is a rotten chili dog!" he said, causing a sonic boom.

* * *

"No, I got here first!" an annoyed Shadow grumbled.

"Don't be a sore loser, Shady," Sonic teased.

"Shut up!" Shadow said.

"Doom cookie...just admit the defeat, and get on with it. That's your problem. You never let go!" Rouge said.

"No! You're my problem, batgirl!" Shadow said.

"Geez, Shad. You sound like Knuckie," Rouge snorted. Shadow grumbled something inaudible to anyone else. Amy walked up to him and grabbed his hand, feeling bad that everyone was teasing him.

"It's okay, Shadow," she whispered in his ear. Sonic rolled his eyes.

_He's just doing that to get girls? How pathetic! No now's not a time to worry about that. Concentrate on the mission, _Sonic thought to himself.

* * *

_(With Robotnik/Eggman...)_

"HO-HO-HO! Did they really think they could just hack into my control panel? Tails didn't know that I had an extra system. I see them entering... Better send Sally out now. I'll have 121-Sigma collect the emeralds when they're distracted by that squirrel princess... Meanwhile, I'd better head off to my Soleanna base..."

* * *

_(With Sonic, Tails, Amy, Shadow, and Rouge...)_

They'd been walking down, long, dark, metal corridors for ages now.  
"Are we there yet?" Sonic asked Tails, childishly.

"Almost. I'm picking up something that's a few yards to the left," Tails said, looking down at his monitor device.

"It's a weird metal..." Tails muttered. Amy had fallen back with Sonic and they were not talking.

"Are you scared?" Sonic whispered to Amy.

"Not really. Just anxious. I have a really bad feeling about this place...Call it my girlish intuition..." Amy whispered back. Sonic shrugged it off. Little did he know, that Amy's '_intuition_' was the beginning.

* * *

Tails' monitor had led the group of five into a vast, empty room.

"I hate to burst your bubble, foxboy, but there's nothing here," Shadow said, blatantly annoyed.

"My monitor led us here. Don't blame me..." Tails defended himself.

"Maybe you're not as smart as we thought," Rouge said. Sonic was about done. He and Tails may have been in a fight, but the fox was still Sonic's brother.

"You two need to back off. Tails is trying his best. I don't see you two with any bright ideas," Sonic said, crossing his arms. He sounded so..._unlike_ himself. With Sally's robotization, and he and Tails' feud, he did not need another dilemma.

"Whatever," Shadow said, crossing his arms.

"We need to go find the Princess, the president, the mayor, and the Doctor. Come on, Shad," Rouge said, flying off. Shadow nodded, took a last look at Amy, and sped off to where was partner was heading.

As soon as Shadow and Rouge were out of sight a metal _Clang!_ sounded throughout the room.

"What was that-?"

"MUST-ELIMINATE-SONIC-THE-HEDGEHOG!" The beautiful voice that used to be held by the owner, was now gone, and replaced with a robotic, emotionless ring. Sonic's eyes widen as he took in the sight.

Sally Acorn, the beautiful Sally Acorn, was now a robot. Her earthy, brown fur was now metallic and hard. Her icy blue eyes, now a startling red.

"Sal...?" Sonic whispered, taking a step forward. Sally lunged at him, knocking him onto the floor.

"Ugh!" Sonic said as she tackled him to the metal ground.

"Get the de-robotizer, Tails!" Sonic commanded, before Sally wrapped her metal hands on Sonic's neck in an iron lock. Amy had enough of this and pulled out her Piko Piko hammer. She then swung and hit Sally, knocking her off of Sonic.

"Thanks, Amy," Sonic said, getting up.

"Sonic! How do I work this thing?" Tails asked. He was trying to figure out how to use the de-robotizer, and he wasn't having much luck.

"Uh, I don't know!" Sonic admitted, dodging another one of Metal Sally's attacks.

"Why didn't you ask?!" Amy said, swinging her hammer at Sally, but missing.

"It never, er, came up?" Sonic said, almost getting punched in the face by Sally. Sally, then, giving up on Sonic, turned, and lunged at Tails. She clawed at his chest.

Tails' piercing scream was blood curdling. Sonic then grabbed the de-robotizer, which had fallen out of Tails' grasp, and was now, lying on the ground, and pulled one of the many triggers. It was the right button, and a bullet came out of the gun, and hit Sally in the middle of her metal back. She then fell to the ground, and stopped moving.

Amy had rushed over to Tails to get him off his mech.

* * *

_(With Shadow and Rouge...)_

"He's gone, Shadow. And the Princess, president, and mayor aren't here. We'd better go tell Sonic and leave this dump," Rouge said to her partner.

"But first, you need to hack into his main computer like you did with Ark. Find out where he might be, and where the captives are," Shadow said.

* * *

The duo made it to the control room, and Rouge had found the password.

"'IamthegreatestSonic'sapesk' is the password," Rouge said, trying not to laugh.

"For a genius, the Doctor's not very smart," Shadow got in, and downloaded all of the files onto a flashdrive.

"Let's take it back to G.U.N. HQ," Rouge advised.

"Let's get back to the others," Shadow said. And with that, the partners left the control room.

* * *

(Back with Sonic, Amy, and Tails...)

"We couldn't find Robotnik," Rouge said, entering the room, Shadow tailing her. "That slimeball got away-" She was cut short when she saw Amy wrapping cloth around an un-blinking Tails, and Sonic standing, watching horrified, as if he'd just been shot.

"What happened to him?" Rouge said, rushing over to the scene. That's right, folks. Rouge the Bat was concerned about 'Foxboy'.

* * *

While the group of five was getting an injured Tails and an unconscious Sally out of Eggmanland, to Uncle Chuck's, they missed an important problem. When they were being distracted, a badnik by the name of 121-Sigma, had stolen all seven chaos emeralds. The mech was now on it's way to Doctor Ivo Robotnik's Soleanna base, where the egg-shaped genius was plotting, already, new ways to take over the world.

* * *

_(With Robotnik/Eggman in the Soleanna Base...)_

"Very good, 121-Sigma! I finally have all seven chaos emeralds and the master emerald! Thank you, Tikal, for making this possible!" Robotnik cackled. Behind him, was the Master emerald. Inside it, was a trapped echidna-girl, trying to escape.

"I will now be able to take over the United Federation, as I have the President, the mayor, and Princess Elise. After that, I shall expand my empire to the Republic of Acorn. I already have the Kingdom of Mercia under my reign! HO-HO-HO! Sonic the Hedgehog cannot, win now! HO-HO-HO!"

* * *

**WAIT?! When did Robuttnik get the Master Emerald?! Where the heck was Knuckles? When di Robotnik take control of freaking Mercia? DF? Ha-ha. You'll see next chapter with ****_many_**** flashbacks. Tails got hurt by the way. Sorry Tails fans. You'll see what happens to him, Next chapter, though. If you have ****_any _****questions, PM me. Review, please!**


	8. The Truth About Tikal: Don't Worry Cream

**I am sorry it has taken me so long to update. I have a migraine headache, and Summer Gym takes up four hours everyday. Plus, I've had bad writer's block, even though I've planned the chapters out. Although, this is a filler chapter, and I ****_hate_**** writing filler chapters. Anyways, I will have a small Synopsis to keep you updated, at the end of the chapter. **

**I hope you enjoy Chapter 8!**

**I've had a few PM's from people wanting TailsXCream romances, and I added a bit of that in this. I'm more of a SonicXAmy fan only, but I worked it in here.**

* * *

**-Normal POV-**

When Tails woke up, he was in a blue room. He sighed in relief. The kitsune knew this very room well, considering he spent most of his childhood here, inventing gadgets, before he had built his workshop. He looked around and saw the blinds opened, hazy light streaming in. He looked down and noticed he was in a big, fluffy bed. Remembering what had happened the previous night, Tails looked down, and pulled off the sheets, only to reveal a clean white gauze, wrapped around his torso.

"Good morning, Tails," he heard a soft voice say. His head snapped up, and his eyes met two emerald orbs.

"S-Sonic!" Tails said, shocked. "D-did Sally get away? Did we fight Robotnik? Where's Amy? Wha-?" Tails was cut short when Sonic raised his hand to silence him.

"Uncle Chuck and I de-robotized Sally. She's downstairs with Amy right now." Tails could tell that the cobalt speedster was hiding something.

"What?" Tails questioned. Sonic sighed.

"Eggman got away... And he managed to steal all seven chaos emeralds..." Tails gasped at Sonic's words, but said nothing.

"Shadow and Rouge are here. They have to give us a message from G.U.N. I'll be back up to check on you later..." Sonic said, standing up.

"Wait!" Tails said. Sonic turned to face him.

"I'm sorry for getting upset. I-I just couldn't lose her. I already failed with Cosmo, and I can't go through that again," Tails whispered.

"I understand. I'm sorry," Sonic said, head down.

"It's not your fault; what happened to Cosmo," Tails said. It was the first time they'd talked about the seedrian since she had died, giving her life to save the universe. She was Tails' first love. Sonic had tried to save her, but she was already gone.

Sonic nodded at the fox.

"Thank you for saving me," Tails whispered.

"It's okay, Tails. You're my best friend," Sonic said. "So does this mean we're cool now?"

"'Way past cool'," Tails grinned, quoting his best friend. Sonic laughed at the fox's attempt to sound like himself.

"You'd better rest. I'm going to go see how the others are doing," Sonic said, walking out of his bedroom.

* * *

_(With Sally and Amy in the living room...)_

Sally and Amy were sitting across from one another, on caramel colored love seats, and Shadow and Rouge were in the basement, on Uncle Chucks computer.

"How are you feeling, Sally?" Amy asked the princess squirrel.

"Much better...But Tails..." Sally said, frowning.

"We know you didn't mean it," Amy smiled, sadly. Sally sighed, but nodded. Just, then, Sonic came down the stairs.

"How is he?" Sally asked, immediately standing up.

"Tails is fine, Sal," Sonic said putting his hand on her arm. He then, turned to Amy on the loveseat and jumped onto her lap, sprawling across her.

"Get off of me! You're too heavy!" Amy giggled.

"Are you calling me fat, Ames?" Sonic asked, eyebrow raised in mock hurt, making the sakura hedgehog laugh more. Sally chuckled at the sight. It reminded her of when her and Sonic were together. She pushed her thoughts aside when Rouge and Shadow came up from the basement.

"So what did you two want?" Sonic asked, getting off Amy, but still keeping his arm around her.

"Shad and I just downloaded a map of Eggman's Soleanna base onto your computer," Rouge smirked, crossing her arms.

"And why would we need that?" Amy asked.

"That's where the Doctor is holding the captives. Rouge and I took the flashdrive to HQ this morning, and we found out that he wants to take over Mobius. He's robotized all of the freedom fighters. He has total control over the Kingdom Mercia and he's sending the robotized to capture each city. He has the leaders of the United Federation in his Soleanna base. The flashdrive also said that he has-" Shadow was interrupted by the front door opening.

"SONIC! I'M GOING TO KILL THAT BAT!" a husky voice screamed, coming into the living room where Sonic, Sally, Shadow, Rouge, and Amy sat. Knuckles the Echidna stood, fuming.

"What'd ya do this time, Rouge?" Sonic asked, tauntingly.

"ROUGE! IF THIS IS SOME PRACTICAL JOKE, IT'S NOT FUNNY! GIVE ME BACK THE MASTER EMERALD!"

"Knuckie... I haven't stolen it. Did you hear a word I said back on Space Colony Ark? I'm giving up on the Master Emerald," Rouge said, shocked at Knuckles outburst. Sure, Knuckles had yelled at her before, but not like this.

"I KNOW YOU STOLE IT YOU B-"

"Knuckles!" Shadow hissed. "Rouge didn't steal your damn emerald! The Doctor did! How did he anyways? Aren't you supposed to be the 'Guardian'?" Shadow mocked Knuckles' title.

"Yes! And I was! I was guarding the emerald when..."

* * *

_The indigo sky was dim. The floating island was peaceful. Too, peaceful, that is. Knuckles was laying in his usual position, on his back, with one leg over the other, his arms behind his head. He looked very relaxed, although he'd been more alert than usual. The Master Emerald had been acting very strange lately, and Knuckles wasn't sure what to make of it. Instead of it's normal, dullness, it had been glowing and dulling every five seconds. It was like something or someone, in this case, was trying to tell him something... Though knowing the Knucklehead, he wasn't able to figure it out._

_"What's wrong, emerald?" Knuckles asked, as the green gem started to shine again. The red echidna could hear a slight tapping sound coming from the Master Emerald._

_"What the-?" Knuckles said, turning to face the gem. He took a step for the jewel, but a sphereish looking ball landed in front of him._

_"What?" he said, leaning in, towards the ball. He could hear a faint ticking noise. His eyes widened as he realized what the ball was. A smoke bomb. He was about to grab the emerald, and escape, when suddenly, the bomb went off. White, puffy smoke filled the ruins. Knuckles wheezed and coughed. He couldn't see anything but the gas._

_Knock-out gas! he thought. He felt his eyelids grow heavy. Sleeping started to sound very appealing to him, though every bone in his body was against it. He shut his eyes, involuntarily, as darkness consumed him._

* * *

"And then I woke up today, and the emerald was gone!" Knuckles finished, still glaring at Rouge. "And Rouge is the only one to use sleep bombs! And it was a strong one at that! I was out for over a week!"

"Well, I didn't steal it, nor have I actually done so before," Rouge said, getting up, and flying upstairs.

"Geez, Knucklehead. You really messed up this time," Sonic said, his voice humorless.

"I don't particularly care for her, but accusing her was uncalled for," Sally said, frowning at her childhood best friend. Knuckles felt a twinge of guilt.

"Well, I'm going to pay Robotnik a visit. I need to protect the Master Emerald!" the red echidna said.

"Well, we're going to see him, too," Amy told Knuckles.

"You guys can copy the data from Shadow and Rouge's flashdrive onto N.I.C.O.L.E. Then, you can take her to the Soleanna base, as a guide," Sally offered. "I'll go copy the data."

The coffee colored squirrel then took off for the basement.

"Are you and Rouge gonna come with us?" Sonic asked Shadow. The ebony hedgehog nodded.

"We have to rescue the princess, the president, and the mayor," Shadow said.

"What about you Knuckles?" Sonic asked the red echidna.

"Yeah. I need to find the emerald," he said.

"Then it's a party," Sonic grinned. "We'll leave tonight."

"What about Tails?" Amy asked the blue teen.

Oh, yeah, Sonic thought, I don't know if he'll be up to it...

"I'm fine, Amy," a new voice said from the top of the stairs. Everyone turned to see Tails standing, the white gauze still wrapped around his torso.

"Alright, guys! I've copied all the data onto N.I.C.O.L.E," Sally said, coming up from the basement. Everyone was quiet, as she walked in. The red-headed squirrel turned to see the yellow kitsune by the stairway. Her eyes averted to Tails' torso.

"Tails..." she said, her bright blue eyes became dull as they started to water.

"It's okay, Aunt Sally," Tails said, his eight year old voice wavering. He then, ran over to Sally, and hugged her. Sally kneeled down to return his embrace.

"I'm so sorry, Tails," she whispered in his ear, her voice cracking.

"I'm fine, Sally," Tails said back. Just then, someone knocked on the front door. Sally and Tails pulled apart.

"Come in!" Sonic called. The door opened and an apricot bunny was standing in the entrance.

"My mother told me you all had arrived back in New Mobotropolis, so I brought you flowers from my garden- " the soft, polite voice stopped, when Cream's chocolate brown eyes fell upon Tails. She gasped, and the pot fell from her hands, shattering on the floor.

"I...I'm sorry," she mumbled inaudibly. Her caramel eyes were up to the brim with tears. She then, as she always does in dire situations, ran away.  
Tails raised a hand after her. It remained quiet in the room until...

"Shadow. Get G.U.N. to let us borrow an aircraft. The Tornado's too small for all six of us," Sonic said. "We'll leave tonight."

* * *

_Knock, Knock_

"Coming, dear," a woman's voice called. Tails had searched everywhere for Cream, but couldn't find her. Flower fields, the bake shop, even two chao gardens. Her house, was the last place he could think of.  
The wooden door opened to reveal Vanilla the Rabbit, Cream's mom.

"Hello, Tails," the mother rabbit said, trying her best not to stare at Tails' bandages.

"Is Cream here?" Tails asked.

"Yes, she's in her room," Vanilla replied, letting the twin-tailed fox into the cozy house.

"Thanks," Tails said as he walked upstairs. He stood by the first door, which was cracked open. He could hear sobbing.

_Oh-no_, Tails thought, hating the noise. He took a step forward to knock on the door, but was tripped by one of his tails. This caused the fox, to fall forward, knocking the door open, and a lot of embarrassment.

"Miles! Are you alright?!" Cream said, wiping away her tears, and rushing over to the golden yellow kitsune.

"Uh, yeah," Tails said, blushing mortified. Cream giggled at his reaction, and helped him up. Seeing the wraps around his torso, she stopped and looked away sadly.

"Cream," Tails said, putting his hand on her arm. "I'm fine, really. Stop worrying-"

"Don't tell me to 'stop worrying', Tails! You come home, injured so badly, you have to wear gauze, and you tell me not to worry? You're my friend, and I worry about you!" Cream shouted.

"I, I'm sorry I upset you, Cream. But I'm okay," Tails said.

"Please be more careful, Miles. I don't want you to get hurt!" Cream said, pulling her two-tailed friend in for a hug.

"I won't, Cream," Tails promised.

* * *

_(With Sonic back at Uncle Chuck's House...)_

Amy was showering, and Sonic was alone in the living room. Something kept bothering him. If Tikal could see everything (except for the exact future of course), then why did she lead Team Fighters to Eggmanland in the first place? She had to have known that the captives weren't there so it made no sense to tell them to go there, only to get the emeralds stolen, too. It was like she'd led them into a trap.

_But why?_ Sonic frowned. It had to have been a mistake._ She wouldn't have done something like that, would she? She hated fighting, and helping Robotnik would make the present day even worse..._  
He then realized something. Knuckles had the Master Emerald stolen, by none other than Robotnik himself, a little over a week prior to today. That was about the time Tikal, started to visit Sonic through the emerald. Then it finally clicked.

_Robotnik knew I'd do anything she said, so he's manipulating the power of the Master Emerald, and forcing her to give us the wrong information! Sonic thought. I'll tell the others tonight before we leave..._

* * *

_(Still at Uncle Chuck's House...)_

Where is that batty girl? Knuckles thought. He had checked everywhere in Sonic's house, except one room; Sonic's bedroom.

She must be in here... the red echidna concluded.

_Knock, knock_

"What do you want?" a voice asked, coldly.

"Rouge, I wanna talk to you," Knuckles said. He didn't get a response, so he opened the door without permission. He saw Rouge, standing, her back to the door, her arms crossed.

"Leave me alone, Knuckles," Rouge said, not turning to face him. Knuckles' jaw dropped, as it had been the first time, in a long time, that Rouge had not called him, by one of her petty nicknames, but by his actual name.

"Listen, I'm sorry Batgirl-..._Rouge_. I'm sorry that I accused you of stealing the Master Emerald. I was wrong, and I apologize." Rouge's ears perked up at his apology.

"You know what, Knuckie..." Rouge said, a smirk appearing on her face. "I think you want to make up, so we can make out," she grinned. Knuckles' muzzle went red and his eyes went wide.

"YOU'RE BATTY!" he screamed. Rouge chuckled at him.

"Can't you take a joke, Knucklehead?" She walked up to him, and traced her gloved finger on the white crescent, on his furry chest.

"Well, uh," Knuckles said, becoming his usually awkward self around her. Rouge sensed his awkwardness, and kissed his cheek, leaving a magenta lip gloss stain on his muzzle.

"I know you like me, Knuckie," she whispered, seductively. She then turned, and walked out of Sonic's bedroom, leaving a confused Knuckles, alone.

* * *

_(With Sonic and Amy in Uncle Chuck's living room...)_

Shadow had gone back to G.U.N. to pick up the aircraft, Knuckles and Rouge were doing their own thing, Sally had to get back to the Castle Acorn to deal with royal affairs and Mercia's current situation, and Tails over to Cream's, so Sonic and Amy were left alone.

"What do you wanna do?" Amy asked Sonic. An idea popped into the speedy hedgehog's brain.

"Let's go for a run," Sonic said, taking off. Amy grinned, identifying Sonic's rash action, as their Cat and Mouse game.

"Bring it, hedgehog," Amy smirked, running out the door, following the blue teen.

* * *

Of course Sonic was taking it slow so she could keep up, but he was still going pretty fast. Surprised that Amy could keep up, he turned it up a notch. Soon, he couldn't see her, and came to a sudden stop.

"Amy?" he asked. Not hearing a response, he decided to go back and look for her. His peripheral vision caught a pink blob, on the ground.

_What the-?_

He ran over to her, and keeled down beside his rosy friend.

"Ames? Are you okay-?" He was cut short, by Amy jumping up on him, knocking him backwards.

After he got over the shock of what just happened, he grinned at her.

"So you've got tricks, eh?" he laughed. Amy smirked and nodded, proud of herself. Sonic, then, put a hand to her face, and leaned upwards. She, thinking he was going to kiss her, leaned in, too. He flashed a small, sly smile, and then grabbed her arms, turning her over, so that he now, lay on top of her.

"Sonic!" she whimpered. "I thought I had you this time!"

"Guess again, Rosy!" Sonic grinned, calling her by her childhood nickname.

"Get off of me, you brat!" Amy screamed.

"Nah. This is too fun," Sonic laughed.

"You're crushing my rib cage!" she giggle-shrieked.

"Good," Sonic said, crossing his arms and triumph. Amy had had enough. She pushed him off hard, and got up, running away from him, though she knew it would be no use.  
"I'll give you a head start and count to three," Sonic closed his eyes and smirked.

"ONE!...TWO!...THREE!" His eyes opened, and he took off after Amy. She was running as fast as she possibly could, but that would not help her against the fastest thing alive.

He had the pink hedgehog in his arms in .74 seconds and she was currently being slung over his shoulder.

"AHH! Let me go!" Amy squealed.

"Never!" Sonic said, beginning to run. Amy tripped him, and they both fell down. Sonic was on top of her, making her blush. He didn't, however, keeping his cool demeanor.

"Someone's blushing," he grinned, rolling off of her, and onto his back.  
The hedgehog duo looked up at the baby blue sky, watching the big, white, puffy clouds.

"Sonic?" Amy's girlish voice sounded.

"Yeah?" Sonic's boyish voice replied.

"What do you think Soleanna's like?"

"Well, I went there for a festival earlier this summer. It's amazing there, even though it's the city of water..." he let out a chuckle.

"What's wrong, Sonic. I know you're feeling uneasy about something..." Amy said, looking sincerely into his green eyes.

"Well..."

* * *

Sonic told her everything about Tikal.

"So we were just pawns Eggman used to collect the chaos emeralds?" Amy asked, her face blank. Sonic nodded.

"We'll get him. We always do," the pretty, pink hedgehog said. Amy took his hand in hers.

"A-Amy?" Sonic asked, backing away slightly.

"No running," she whispered, laying her head on his chest.

_I won't, Amy_, Sonic thought, drifting off into a peaceful nap.

* * *

_(Back at Uncle Chuck's house...)_

It was 8:30 at night. Shadow had just gotten back from G.U.N. HQ, and he brought the Blue Eagle with him. Knuckles, Rouge, Tails and Shadow were all waiting in Uncle Chuck's living room, for Sonic and Amy who still had not returned from wherever they were.

As if on cue, the front door to the house opened, and in walked Sonic and Amy. They were laughing about something.

"It's about time you two got here," Tails said as he stopped pacing around.

"Yeah, where have you two lovebirds been?" Rouge grinned slyly, making both Amy and Sonic blush a deep red.

"Uh, we're not '_lovebirds_' and we just hung out," Sonic said, sitting down on the couch.

"Well, we need to leave now. I have to-"

"-Find the master emerald! We know Knuckie," Rouge rolled her eyes at the echidna's repetitive speech.

"Guys! I've gotta tell ya something..." Sonic said.

"Tikal isn't helping us. Robotnik is manipulating the master emerald, and that's how he got the chaos emeralds. He knew that once we were distracted by Sally, he'd be able to get his hands on them," Sonic explained.

"What?" Tails asked, frowning.

"We have to go to Soleanna immediately to stop whatever his plan is..." Sonic muttered, his fist clenching.

"On the way, Shads and I will tell you his plan. Sally gave me N.I.C.O.L.E. and we copied the Soleanna base map and his plan for world domination onto the flash drive," Rouge said.

"Where's the aircraft?" Amy asked Shadow, picking up the de-robotizer.

"Out in the back. Let's go," the black hedgehog nodded. The crew of six, then, went to Sonic's backyard, to board the plane. As they took off, they saw Uncle Chuck waving at them from the ground.

"Good luck, sonny...Good luck," the elderly hedgehog whispered, knowing that his only nephew would not be able to hear him. Little did he know, that that was the last time, he'd ever see, Sonic the Hedgehog.

* * *

**So. Freaking. Intense. Anyways, sorry if this chapter was boring. It's a Filler chapter. Next chapter will be Epic though. I got you! Next chapter will pick up with the group of five in Soleanna. BTW: Robotnik's plan (full out, everything) will be revealed in the next chapter, by Rouge and Shadow.**

**READ THIS: In this story, Sonic '06's Soleanna, is Beautiful. In the game, it was Ugly, but imagine it beautiful (if possible). I HATE ELISE, so I'm going to try and not have her in as much as possible.**

If you are not following this story, READ THIS:

**-Tikal is being imprisoned in the master emerald, being told to tell Sonic and Co., information, by Dr. Robotnik/Eggman. Do not be alarmed about her well being. The 'real' Tikal is in the chapter after the next. **

**-Amy and Sonic are not together. Sonic hasn't even said if he likes her or not.**

**-Tails is perfectly fine**

**-Robotnik stole the chaos emeralds and is up to something and yes, Robotnik/Eggman was the one who smoke bombed Knuckles, stealing the master emerald before the story even started. Knuckles was out for over a week.**

**See ya next time for Chapter 9. Have a nice day!:) *REVIEW, please***


	9. Robotnik's Soleanna Base: Take Care, Amy

**I know, I know. This chapter is Short. Next chapter won't be much longer. Sorry. A few people have PM-ed me asking if there's only a few more chapters. That would be a No. There is an entire second half that I haven't even gotten into, so sorry, about that.**

A few people have been asking who T-Pup is. Well, here you go. T-Pup is a small, dog/fox-like robot built by Tails while on Cocoa Island. If you want more info about him, got to . I certainly do not know enough about him to put him in this story, so that's why he is not here.

**The N.I.C.O.L.E I am using is from SatAm. Not the Archie Comics as I do not know enough about the N.I.C.O.L.E from Archie to use it.**

**I've been using two OC's in this story. Lieutenant Naka (a reference to Yuji Naka, the programmer of Sonic) and Lieutenant Iisuka (Takashi Iisuka, Sonic's main art director). I personally don't like using OC's because there are So many Sonic characters out there that can be used for the part. Plus, I already have this story planned out, and adding an OC at this point would look sloppy and unorganized. Sorry.**

**Anyways, enough with that. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Starts out a bit slow, but it gets better. Next chapter will have Tikal in it. REVIEW, please.**

* * *

**-Normal POV-**

Sonic and Co. were overhead of Soleanna, when Amy spoke up.

"So...What's Dr. Robotnik's plan?" she asked to nobody in particular.

"He didn't put his entire plan on his computer, just part of it," Shadow replied.

"He's turning all of the people who might try to retaliate against him, into robots who will work for him. He is going to 'terminate' Sonic, and then take over Mobius, using the power of the seven servers; the chaos emeralds. He'll then add what he conquers, to the Eggman Empire..." Rouge explained. Knuckles shook his head.

"What do you mean, 'terminate Sonic'?" Amy asked, gripping onto the blue hedgehog's hand. Nobody spoke.

"Don't worry, Ames. I'll be fine. He's never actually hurt me before," Sonic grinned, flashing her a thumbs up with the hand that wasn't being held. Amy, still wasn't convinced, though. Sonic noted this and whispered,

"Really, Amy. Have some faith. We'll get him." The pink girl nodded, and stared forward, blankly. Sonic sighed, but said nothing else.

"Guys. We'll be landing in Kingdom Valley in three minutes," Tails confirmed, as he started to land the aircraft.

* * *

When the team of six had landed, they headed towards the castle, where they saw many guards.

"Who goes there?" one of the guards boomed.

"Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog," the cobalt hero grinned at the man.

"And why are you here?"

"To see if any of you know something about Dr. Robotnik's base," Shadow said, crossing his arms.

"The Soleanna police force have it under control-"

"G.U.N. sent Agent Rouge the Bat and I to find Princess Elise the Third, the President, and the Mayor of Station Square. We need to know everything, NOW," Shadow said. He scared the guard even though he was about half the man's size.

"Er, um, okay. I'll see what we can do," the Soleanna guard stuttered. Shadow nodded. The man, then, turned around and motioned for a few of the other guards to come over.

"They want to know about Dr. Robotnik's base..." the guard told his comrades.

"We can't just let anyone know where-" Another one of the guards was cut off by Shadow raising a hand to silence him.

"G.U.N. sent us. Now tell us where the Doctor's base is," the ebony hedgehog said, losing his patience. The Soleanna guards didn't say anything, but you could tell they were livid that a three foot four hedgehog was telling them what to do.

"Alright, Agent...?"

"Shadow."

"I'll have Lieutenant Iizuka see that you get there," the lead guard said. His voice showed not even an ounce of friendliness. Shadow nodded as a guard, presumably Lieutenant Iizuka, stepped forward.

"This way, please."

* * *

Lieutenant Iizuka led the group of six out of Kingdom Valley, which was located in Soleanna's forest, and into Soleanna's town.

"If you keep heading straight through this passageway, you'll get to the other side of Soleanna. When you get through the tunnel, turn left," Iizuka stated. He then, bid the heroes farewell, and headed back to the Soleanna forest.

"Okay, guys. Let's do this," Sonic grinned.

* * *

When the crew got to the other side of Soleanna, known as New City, they headed towards where they were instructed to go.

As they approached the cave, Shadow stopped everyone.

"Do know, that this is a mission. If someone gets hurt, we have to carry the mission out and not let emotions get in the way. As soon as Rouge and I complete our task of evacuating the princess, president, and mayor out of the doctor's base, we are leaving. Understood?" Shadow said. Nobody said anything.

"Let's go," Sonic said, frowning. He turned, and walked into the cave. Amy and Tails followed him. Rouge sighed, and flew after them. Shadow closed his eyes.

_Maria... I promise you..._

The black hedgehog then opened his eyes, and followed the others, into the entrance, of the base.

* * *

At the end of the stone corridor, there was a room.

"Is that the princess?" Amy asked, pointing to a portrait on the wall. Sonic nodded. "She's beautiful," Amy commented.

"I saw her at the festival awhile back. She's okay," Sonic shrugged. Shadow entered the room. Tails pulled out N.I.C.O.L.E.

"Show us the map, please," the kitsune asked the device. Shadow felt a weird presence.

"We need to leave-" Shadow started. But it was too late. A blinding white light flashed.

"AGH!"

Then everything went dark.

* * *

Sonic woke up, on hard, marble floor. He looked around. He was in a vast room.

"Ugh," he moaned. He must've hit his head pretty hard. He stood up slowly.

_Where am I?_ he thought.

"HO-HO-HO!" he heard a familiar cackle. He turned to see Dr. Ivo Robotnik, in his Egg Walker.

"It's been awhile, Egghead!" Sonic grinned, winking at the egg-shaped man.

"Oh, why yes it has, you little blue pesk," Robotnik smiled back.

What's up with him? Usually he hates it when I insult him like that... Sonic thought.

"And this shall be the last time we ever meet! HO-HO-HO!" Robotnik grinned, sinisterly. Sonic yawned.

"Yo! Mobius to Robuttnik! You've been saying that for the past four years, and your way past lame ideas have never worked. What makes you think it will this time?" Sonic snorted.

"Because, hedgehog...I have your girlfriend at gunpoint!" The fat man pulled out a pink, limp body from behind his mech, and started to cackle again.

Sonic's face went pale. Ever since day one, Amy was a target for his enemies. From Metal Sonic, to a green, sadistic robot in Twinkle Park, to Eggman on Space Colony Ark.

"Amy...?" Sonic whispered. The sakura hedgehog's eyes fluttered open.

"So here's how this'll work... One of you, will leave here today with your life. The other, will die to me, the Notorious Doctor Ivo Robotnik. You chose."  
Sonic was having trouble breathing. This couldn't be the end. The story of him had barely even begun. Fifteen years of age was not enough time. But another life mattered more to him, than his own. Amy Rose's.

"You win, Robotnik," Sonic threw his hands up. "Do what you want with me, but let Amy go." Sonic could hear Amy gasp.

"No, Sonic! You have to save the world! He'll take over without you around. Just let him take me, and save the world. Be happy with Sally, or Mina. You can't die in my place. I have no life without you," Amy confessed. She was on her knees, sobbing, about the fact that Sonic was willing to die. Sonic heard everything she said, and ignored her plea. He did, however, shed one tear. Not because he felt sorry for himself, but because he'd break the only promise that ever really meant anything to her...

* * *

_"What took you so long?! I was worried...I wondered if you were ever going to come back... It scared me...To think that... I was never going to see you again...Day after day, I waited for you to come... But you never did...I didn't know where you were...I couldn't stand not knowing...I told myself, that I should give up hoping...I was convinced that you'd forgotten all about me...I thought you were gone forever...But then I realized that you would never abandon me...and I decided, that I would wait for you...even if it took the rest of my life to see you again... And now you're here!...I'm so glad to finally have you back, Sonic! It's such a wonderful feeling!" she was on the ground crying, "I don't think I'm as happy as I've ever been right now!" This girl, has just confessed her love for him._

_"Don't you ever leave me again, Sonic the Hedgehog!" she cried. Sonic decided it was time. He pulled out a white rose and got down on one knee._

_"Don't you worry, Amy. I never will..." Sonic said back, winking._

_Amy then, locked him in a death hug, Sonic laughing at her reaction._

* * *

He was leaving Amy Rose. He was leaving Tails, and Knuckles. Sally, even.

"Live life to the fullest, Amy. Take care," the blue hero muttered to her. "Dr. Robotnik, let her go. You can take me, wherever you like, but let her go."

The evil genius grinned in triumph.

"121-Sigma! Escort Amy Rose out of my base, immediately!" Eggman commanded. The silver robot came out of nowhere, and picked up Amy, roughly.

"NO!" Amy screamed, tears pouring out of her eyes. Sonic turned away, not wanting to see her like this.

"NO! DON'T HURT HIM! TAKE ME INSTEAD! NO!" Amy cried and pleaded.

"STOP-IT-RIGHT-NOW-OR-YOU-WILL-BE-TERMINATED!" 121-Sigma's robotic voice commanded.

"SONIC, I LOVE YOU!" Amy's confession changed Sonic. No, he wasnt mad. He wasn't sad. All of his life, he'd wanted to experience everything that life had in store. But he never imagined something like this. This made his heart ache. She'd never actually said that she loved him before, so this made him feel even worse. The screaming subsided, when Amy and 121-Sigma were out of the room.

"And don't even think about trying to escape, or I'll notify 121-Sigma. I've installed a gun into him," Robotnik warned. Sonic said nothing.

"Now stand on the X over there in the center," the Doctor told the hedgehog. Sonic complied, without a word.

"What? Have you not a snide comment?" Dr. Eggman asked.

"Just remember what you're doing, Doctor," Sonic smiled weakly. Robotnik's wicked smile dropped for a second.

_No, Ivo. He's just trying to get into your head... _The fifty year old man thought.

His grimace returned as quickly as it disappeared. He pressed a button and a glass capsule fell, locking Sonic in.

"Farewell, Sonic the Hedgehog!" Robotnik cried, flipping a switch. A laser came down from the ceiling and shot a beam at the glass capsule. A greenish-white light surrounded the capsule, and Sonic fell to his knees, writhing in pain.

The light started to turn into an electric blue, and smoke started to fill the room.

* * *

When the smoke cleared, Robotnik turned towards the capsule. It was empty. Sonic the Hedgehog was gone.

* * *

**Well, Sonic's dead. Or is he? Guess we'll find out.  
If the Soleanna travelling part confused you, Google maps of the town. I've played Sonic '06, so I know what it looks like, but if you haven't, I'd recommend googling it.  
This chapter was sad for me to write. **

**I know there are unanswered questions, such as: "What's happened to Tails, Rouge, and Shadow?" or "Elise and the other captives?". If it's that type of stuff, then you will find out, but feel free to PM me other questions about the story. I do reply.**

**Please Review. I want to hear your thoughts. **

**Next Chapter will explain A LOT OF STUFF, so if you're confused, stay tuned.**

**Have a nice day!:)**


	10. Passageway To Heaven: A Decision

**This is not long enough to be considered a 'real' chapter, I know. Sorry about that, but it was supposed to be this short. Anyways, I'll explain this chapter at the bottom when you're done reading it. It's about 1:24 in the morning, and I am tired. But I really wanted to do this chapter, because I am eager to get to work on the second half of the story. Anyways, Next chapter, you will be finding out Everything.**

_**Anything in Italics withougt "quotation marks" those things, is what Sonic the Hedgehog is thinking.**_

**Hope you enjoy this brief chapter! Please Review.**

* * *

**-Normal POV-**

"Awaken hero..." a kind voice whispered.

A cobalt hedgehog's eyes fluttered open. The male was on his stomach, and tried to jump to his feet. Of course, this guy did not realize, that he would become dizzy.  
"Woah!" he said, almost falling over.

When he steadied himself, he took a look around.

He was in an empty, white, void of nothing.

It was a bright white, too. Like the kind you'd expect a dentist's teeth to look like.

"Where am I?" the royal blue hedgehog asked himself. _Who am I?_

"Young hero..." the kind voice whispered. The blue male turned to see a fourteen-year old, caramel echidna stand before him. Her startling teal eyes bore into his. She looked...dull.

"Hiya," the blue boy waved to the girl. Despite her tired, weak appearance, she seemed fine.

"Young hero...You've been asleep for awhile now. I've used the last of my power source to preserve you..." the young woman whispered.

"What do you mean, '_preserve me_'? And where are we exactly?" the male asked impatiently.

"You're very rusty, Sonic the Hedgehog..." the girl muttered.

When she spoke of the name, memories filled the azure hedgie's mind.

He felt like it had been two minutes ago that he'd just said goodbye to someone... What was her name? He felt his heart ache, though he didn't know why. He couldn't even remember who he had parted ways with, so the feeling made absolutely no sense.

"What is this place?" Sonic asked, ignoring his gut-wrenching feeling.

"Why...I don't quite know..." the echidna girl frowned, putting a finger to her bottom lip. "Whatever you picture a pathway to 'Heaven' as I presume..."

"Heaven? You mean I'm..." he gulped, "..._dead_?"

"Why of course not! Do you really think I could let Mobius' prime hero die in the hands of Dr. Ivo Robotnik?" the young girl asked in an offended tone.

_Ivo Robotnik_. That's who he was fighting before he came here. Robotnik was the one who forced him to say goodbye to that girl.

"Unless of course, you'd rather die. You'd have a peaceful life here. No war. No pain from love. No worries..."

"But," she continued, "If you do choose to live out the rest of your days here, the people of Mobius shall suffer..."

_People of Mobius...?_

"Still rather rusty, I presume?" the echidna girl asked the sapphire hedgehog, seeing his confused look. He nodded. His memory was still very hazy.

"Do you remember a kitsune by the name of Miles Prower?" the tribal woman asked Sonic.

_Miles Prower...Miles Prower...Miles per hour...Tails...Tails!_  
"Yes!" Sonic blurted out. "W-where is he?"  
"I'm afraid that you will find out soon, young hero..." she smiled weakly, though her eyes betrayed her.

"Uh...okay..."

"Listen, hero... I cannot tell you where I'm sending you, as unwanted ears, may be listening, but do know this: You can never truly forget where you come from. Home is always where the journey begins," Tikal told Sonic.

"What's your name?" Sonic asked; an abrupt change of subject.

"Tikal..."  
_Tikal...Tikal!_  
"YOU! You tricked me! You made me fall into Robotnik's trap!" Sonic gasped, his eyes widening. Tikal bit her lip.

"There's no time, hero. Please... You'll understand when your memories flood back..." Tikal was fading from view.

"As of now, you have a choice, young hero. Live a carefree life of joy, solitary, and tranquility, or face a lifetime of hardships: as a living being. Your call. The fate of Mobius lies on your shoulder, Sonic the Hedgehog. You only have a few minutes to decide..."

Sonic, was now alone in the vast space.

_Do I really want to face my problems...? Or should I run...?_  
Running seemed like the easiest solution for the blue hero. But people must be counting on me down there...

He groaned. He stood in silence, before he remembered that girl that he had to leave.

"No. I need to find her..." he whispered to himself. "I have to know her..." He clenched his fist. His mind was now set on an option.  
_For her..._ the cobalt hero thought.

* * *

**Whoa... What?!**

**Here's the Skinny (Synopsis Starts Now) :**

**-Sonic was 'killed' by Robotnik. He wasn't really killed, as Tikal was preserving him through the powers of the master emerald. She could not tell Sonic information directly, as Dr. Robotnik could be listening in on their conversation, as he still has possession of the Master Emerald. **

**-At the beginning of this chapter, Sonic has no memory of his previous life. Not even his name. As this chapter progresses, he remembers his name, that he is hero of Mobius, that his best friend (Tails), his enemy ship with Ivo Robotnik (Eggman), and that he said goodbye to a girl (Amy). Although, he does not remember Amy directly. I can assure you, though, that within the next two chapters (at most), that he will get his complete memory back, as memory loss/amnesia is not supposed to be the main focus of the story.**

**-Sonic also only remembers about how Tikal led him to give all the emeralds to Robotnik. He does not remember how she is being controlled by Robotnik/Eggman.**

**We will pick up Next Chapter in Deerwood Forest, which is located in the Kingdom Mercia (Amy's birthplace). Review, please. PM me questions/concerns. Not accepting OC's, sorry. I already have the story planned out.**

**BTW: Sonic does not know how much times has passed. If you've paid very close attention, you'd see that in this chapter, I've stopped referring to him as 'the blue teen'. Do NOT worry. He is NOT old. I wouldn't wanna work with a 28 plus year old Sonic for an adventure fiction. (But that's just me). I have worked with an older Sonic in one of my other stories though... So yeah. See you next time for Chapter 11.**

**Have a nice day!:)**


	11. The Return Of A Legend: Remembering

**Hey, guys! Thanks for reviewing if you have. Gives me the inspiration to continue this story!**

**Anways, to understand this chapter, here are some things you need to know:**

**-Rob 'O the Hedge is Amy's cousin, and Mari-An is Rob's wife (She is an echidna). They have an echidna son, named Jon. Google them on .**

**-If you do not know what Deerwood Forest looks like, look it up. Same with the Deerwood Forest Hideaway. They are real locations in Sonic's world.**

**-Thorn the Lop and Munch Rat are real Mercian Freedom Fighters. Look them up, too.**

**-New Mobotropolis has had a name change, now that it is conquered. I call it New Robotropolis, as a play on the city 'Robotropolis' from the Sonic Underground series.**

_**Anything in italics is someone thinking, unless it is a flashback.**_

**I hope you enjoy this chapter. I had to restart it once, so it was good for you all. Please Review. PM me questions, or comment questions/concerns.**

* * *

**-Normal POV-**

Three hooded figures, were roaming through Deerwood Forest, when they spotted an unconscious Mobian on the dark green grass. One of the hooded figures (the leader, presumably), raised a hand, to halt his two comrades

"What is it, Rob?" a feminine voice questioned. Rob 'O the Hedge, leader of the Mercian Freedom Fighters, stepped toward the figure on the ground.

"Is thou Sonic the Hedgehog?" Rob asked as he turned the figure over onto his back. His two comrades took a few steps forward.

"Munch Rat... Go alert the others at the Hideaway. Thorn and I shall deal with...?" Rob trailed off. Munch Rat nodded, and took off for the hideaway.

"But...It couldn't be... He died eight years ago," Thorn the Lop wondered aloud.

"Sonic? Is that _you_?" Rob keeled down to where the hero lay, and rested a hand on his back. The cobalt hedgehog stirred at Rob's touch. His eyes opened.

Sonic took in the sight. It was probably around midnight, as a full moon and shining stars were out. The sky was a deep, navy blue. He then, saw one pair of green eyes staring at him.

"Wh...who are you?" Sonic asked the teal hedgehog.

"It's not him..." Thorn muttered in disappointment.

"I'm Rob 'O the Hedge, and thee is one of my partners, Thorn the Lop. Who, art thou?" Rob asked Sonic.

"I'm Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog." The blue hedgie sounded uncertain himself, though. Rob's mint eyes narrowed at the young adult.

"Now's not a time for joke's, kid," Thorn growled.

"B...but I am! Or at least that's what the echidna girl said. I just know, that I have to save the world!" Sonic explained, not liking how the conversation was going downhill.

"Come with us, fellow hedgehog," Rob said, helping Sonic up. "You shall answer some my questions for us at the hideaway..."

Sonic then, passed out, from exhaustion.

* * *

_(At the Deerwood Forest Hideaway...)_

"Jon! You need to get to bed! It's half past midnight!" a tired voice sighed. When I say 'tired', I don't mean, lack of sleep, get me a nap type of tired. I mean, tired from worrying, pain, fear. But that's how everybody's voice sounded these days. Emotionless, dull... There was not one ounce of happiness anymore. It just was unfathomable to laugh these days.

"But, _mother_!" An eight year old Jon whined. "I wanna see the visitor Munch Rat told us about!"

"Well, you'll just have to see him in the morning," Mari-An replied.  
"Mother...!" Jon whined some more. The duo were interrupted by the door to their hideaway house.

"Hello, Mari-An," a turquoise hedgehog said, kissing his cherry-red echidna wife on the lips.

"Hello, Rob," Mari-An greeted her husband.

"How are you, Little Jon?" the same hedgehog asked his son.

"Hi, father," Jon greeted his dad.

"Where's the man being held?" Mari-An turned her attention towards Munch Rat's earlier warning.

"Why aren't thou in bed?" Rob ignored Mari-An's question.

"But, father-"

"Go to bed, son. We'll talk in the morning," Rob said. His tone made his decision sound final. Jon frowned, but obliged.

"Goodnight, mother. Goodnight, father," Jon said, exiting the room.

"So...?" Mari-An asked, not dropping the conversation. Rob sighed. He decided she'd find out anyways, so he might as well tell her.

"This hedgehog claims to be the Sonic the Hedgehog..." the teal male scoffed.

"But he died eight years ago at the hands of Dr. Robotnik..." Mari-An said, confused. "But, why would thy lie?" she questioned.

"I don't know..." Rob admitted.

"What he said, may ring of the truth. Nobody ever saw the young hero's body," Mari-An said as Rob sat down in a chair. She walked behind him, and then massaged his shoulders.

"We'll find out everything in the morning. For now, let's just go to bed," she whispered in his right ear. He smiled and turned to her.

"I love you, Mari-An," Rob grinned, kissing her cheek. She sat on his lap.

"I love you, too, Rob." The turquoise hedgie kissed Mari-An's nose.

"Let's go to bed, Mari. I've got a long day tomorrow..."

"Rob...?"

"Yes, beautiful?" he asked her. She blushed at his compliment.

"Let's...not tell Amy about him. Whether he's the real Sonic or not..." Mari-An advised quietly. Rob tensed and nodded.

"She's just starting to get over him... She doesn't need a reminder..." Rob agreed.

* * *

_(In New Robotropolis, New Freedom HQ...)_

A young, pink woman, sat on the floor of an abandoned warehouse. It was late at night, so the New Mobotropolis Freedom Fighters, had gone home. Nobody could know about their secret meets, or everybody involved would be executed by the dictator, Dr. Robotnik, and his accomplice, Shadow the Hedgehog.

Amy, however, decided to stay for awhile.

* * *

_"Are you sure you don't need us to stay, suggah?" Bunnie Rabbot asked the sakura hedgehog. Her Southern belle accent had lost its zing._

_"No... I'm fine. I need to be by myself," Amy answered. Her beautiful, bell-like voice, had become a monotone-filled, humorless voice. It had been like that, for the past eight years._

_"Alright, hun. You know where to find us," Bunnie said, as her, Rotor, and the other freedom fighter's left the warehouse._

* * *

And that's why Amy was alone. This particular day, was hard for her. It was the day, that Team Fighter's mission, had failed. She, and one other, had made it out. She never found out what happened to Tails, Knuckles, or Rouge. She never saw them after that day. Shadow, however, did make it out... And then there was...

_Sonic..._

She refused to believe her teen love was dead. She did, however, accept that he was not coming back. Thinking of him made her sad... and angry.

"WHY? WHY DIDN'T YOU LISTEN TO ME?!" she screamed. "YOU BROKE YOUR PROMISE, JUST LIKE EVERY, SINGLE DATE!" she sobbed, falling to her knees.

She missed everything about him.

His cobalt fur, his emerald eyes, his impatience, his cockiness, his white gloves, and trademark shoes... Everything. She could never focus on much besides him.

The pale pink hedgehog was skinny these days. Beautiful, but certainly a bit underweight for a 20 year old. Even though she was underfed, she still had curves. The men wanted her. But she didn't want them. She wanted _him_.

Amy's rosy quills went to the middle of her back, and her pine green eyes remained the same in color, but they were dull. They didn't have their gleam anymore. Hadn't grown much, either. In fact, she only lived for one person: her best friend, Cream the Rabbit.

Cream was there for her the first year. She fed Amy, bathed Amy, clothed Amy. At this time in the pink hedgehog's life, she was just a body; a shell. Amy had no mind, as it was always blank. Amy Rose wouldn't have survived that first year, if it wasn't for Cream.

About a year after Sonic disappeared, Amy decided, that moping about it would not help the people of Mobius, so she then, took position as head of the New Mobotropolis Freedom Fighters in place of Sally Acorn, who had been captured by Robotnik, and forced into a marriage, ending her control of her kingdom.

In one week, Amy recruited seven people for the group. Cream the Rabbit, Bunnie Rabbot, Antoine, Rotor, Mina the Mongoose (who had put a hold on her singing career to help out the people of Mobius), and Elias and Meg Acorn. That day alone, they'd had invaded one of Robotnik's mini bases, and wiped it clean of badniks.

Amy, stood up, and walked over to the body mirror to her left.

She took a look at herself.

_I'm nothing without him..._ she thought. She looked down.

_He wouldn't want me to act like this. Grow up, Amy_, she scolded herself. She took a deep breath, and looked back up at the mirror. She gasped when she saw a faded image of a fifteen year old Sonic standing behind her, his arms wrapped around her waist, kissing her neck. She felt her eyes become heavy, and something warm and wet dribble down her pale, apricot cheeks. More tears.  
The reflection of Sonic started to nibble at her right ear.

"We could've had this..." Amy muttered, her voice cracking.

* * *

_(The Next Morning at the Deerwood Forest Hideaway in Kingdom Mercia...)_

"Good morning, champ," Munch Rat greeted a tired Sonic.

"Hi..." Sonic groaned.

"We're just waiting for Rob, and then we can get started," Thorn the Lop smiled at the speedy blue hero. Sonic laid his head down on the table, clearly still tired from the previous night.

"We have arrived," a new voice said, entering the room. In walked Rob O' the Hedge and his eight year old Jon.

"Good morning, Rob," Munch Rat grinned.

"Morning," Thorn nodded.

"Is that really the Sonic the Hedgehog?" Jon whispered to his dad. Sonic grinned at the kid.

"I, uh, don't know Little Jon. He claims to be," Rob said, suspicious of the cobalt hedgehog.

"I am, though!" Sonic exclaimed.

"Well, then... Why don't you remember me?" Rob asked.

"I can't remember much of anybody, to be honest. I know that I need to save the world from Dr. Robotnik, my best friend is nowhere to be found... and that girl... I can't shake the thought of leaving her out of my mind!" Sonic admitted.

"Well, this is not enough to prove that you are the real Sonic. You don't really look like him," Munch Rat stated.

"What do you mean I don't 'look like me'? I am me!" Sonic growled in frustration. Thorn went into another room. When she returned, she had a slim body mirror with her.  
"Stand up, and take a look at yourself," she commanded. Sonic obliged. His eyes first adverted to his royal blue quills. They were a few inches longer than they looked when he was fifteen. He also, wasn't as lanky as before. He had a bit more muscle. He was taller, too. His shoes and gloves, however, were still the same, as for his lime eyes. His apricot skin and blue fur, too, remained the same pigment.

"How-... How many years have passed?" Sonic asked, still looking at his young adult self.

"It's been approximately eight years since Team Fighters failed their mission," Rob said, his arms uncrossing.

"I...I'm twenty-three?" Sonic gasped. Rob nodded.

"T...Tails! Where is he? I missed him growing up! Hell, he's my age!" Sonic exclaimed. "Or was, my age..." Sonic mumbled.

"We don't know what's happened to Tails. My cousin was the only person, to make it out of the Robotnik's Soleanna base...Well, alongside Shadow..." Rob trailed off. After an uncomfortable silence, Rob spoke, yet again.

"Curious how you would return the day of the failed mission..." Rob muttered. "Thorn, Munch Rat. May I speak to Sonic alone, now?"

"Of course, Rob," the Lop whispered. She pulled Munch Rat out of the room, leaving Sonic, Rob, and Jon alone.

"How are you?" Rob asked.

"I _hate_ not knowing. My memory is there, I can feel it. It's just hazy. Like being groggy in the morning, or drugged," Sonic explained. Rob nodded at him.

"I have a way to prove if you're the real Sonic or not..." the mint hedgehog told Sonic.

"And that is?" Sonic asked, not phazed.

"I want you to race Jon," Rob said.

_Running? It sounds...appealing_, Sonic thought.

"Alright. I'm in. How about you, Jon?" Sonic grinned at the echidna boy.

"Let's do it!" Jon cried in excitement.

* * *

"Alright. So all you two have to do, is run the perimeter of the hideaway," Thorn explained to the two racers.

"Sounds like a plan to me," Sonic grinned.

"ON YOUR MARK. GET SET. GO!"

Jon hadn't made it to his second step, when a blue streak blinded him. Sonic had run the entire perimeter and back in less than two seconds.

Thorn the Lop, was shocked. Rob grinned.

"That's definitely him," Rob clapped. Sonic walked up to Rob.

"I will be back soon. I need to go for a longer run," Sonic stated, simply, taking off.

* * *

As Sonic was running through Deerwood forest, the world became a blur. In the blurriness of the scenery, images started to appear. He saw himself, crouching on a plane with a small kitsune, piloting it.

_The Tornado! And Tails!_

Another image showed up of him fighting with a red echidna, and then shaking hands afterwards, each of the two anthropomorphic animals grinning at each other.

_It's Knucklehead!_

He, then, saw a picture of himself, with a pretty, pink hedgehog.

Sonic pulled to a sudden halt.

_A-Amy?!_

His eyes widened in shock. Everything had come back to him.  
The mission, his relationships with people, and his cause for being here.

I need to get back to the hideaway now, Sonic thought. He then, took off at the speed of sound, causing a sonic boom.

* * *

_(Back at the Hideaway...)_

"Woah!" a child's voice rung out as he hit the ground. Sonic fell over a kid, while running.

"I'm sorry, kid. Didn't see ya there," the cobalt hero said, helping the kid up.

"It's alright, Sonic. Where are you going?" Little Jon asked, curiously.

"To see your dad... Say, kid? What's been happening on Mobius when I was away?" Sonic asked the kid as they started to walk to Rob and Mari-An's hideaway house.

"Well, Dr. Robotnik took over Mobius. Mercia, the Republic of Acorn, and the United Federation are being controlled by him," Jon explained.

"The Republic of Acorn? What happened to Sally Acorn?!" Sonic stopped walking.

"She disappeared from the Castle Acorn. Eggman made her marry Shadow a few years ago. He rules the Republic of Acorn, alongside Dr. Robotnik," Jon frowned.

"WHAT?!" Sonic growled. _Shadow works for G.U.N! He was on our side!_

"Rumor has it that Dr. Robotnik captured him on the failed mission last year, and stole his memories," Jon whispered.

"Well, I'm going to pay the happy couple a visit," Sonic said. "But first, I need to talk to your father. Wanna get there a bit faster?" Sonic asked the red echidna boy. Jon nodded. In one sweep, Sonic had Little Jon on his shoulders.

"Hang on tight, kid," Sonic grinned, as he took off.

* * *

_(In Rob and Mari-An's Hideaway House...)_

"So you mean to tell me that Robotnik took over everywhere?" Sonic asked Rob, who nodded solemnly.

"And you all are just hiding? Nobody's taking a stand?" Sonic asked, annoyed.

"That's not true. The Mercian Freedom Fighters live here, because if any of us are captured by Robotnik, he will either find out our information, or kill us. And we aren't the only group of Freedom Fighters. The New Mobotropolis Freedom Fighters help us too," Rob explained.

"Who is their leader? Tails?"

"I'm afraid Tails, never made it out from the failed mission..." Mari-An spoke sadly.

"Wha-?" Sonic said.

"No. Only Amy, and Shadow..." Rob said, quietly.

"Where is Amy, anyways?" Sonic asked.

"In New Mobo-I mean New Robotropolis..." Rob said.

"What the hell is she doing there? It's dangerous!" Sonic hissed.

"She's leader of the Freedom Fighters there. Recruited her team and everything. Made a major comeback..." Rob smiled sadly at the thought of his rosy cousin.

"Comeback...?" Sonic asked, not sure of what the teal hedgehog meant.

"She almost died the first year after your mission. Her little rabbit friend kept her alive," Mari-An grimaced.

"Why?" Sonic asked.

"She was a zombie. Heartbroken, to say the least," Mari-An answered. Sonic remained quiet after that.

"How about this, champ? We go to New Robotropolis, and I'll show you what's been done..." Rob offered.

"No. I need to see Amy," Sonic scowled, crossing his arms.

"No. Not yet."  
"Why? Does she believe that I'm dead?" the blue man asked.

"No. She never thought that. It's just... It'll be hard on her," Mari-An said.

"Well, I have to see her. She'll be angry if I don't see her earlier than that," Sonic persisted.

Rob sighed, but nodded.

"Do what you have to do, hero," Rob said getting up. "I assume that you still know how to get there."

"I do," Sonic said, taking off for New Robotropolis.

* * *

**Sonic now has his full memory back. I know a few questions are unanswered, such as,**

**"Where's Tails, Knuckles, and Rouge?"**

**OR**

**"Shadow got his memories erased? AGAIN?! And why marry Sally?"**

**If it's one of those questions, they will be answered in the story.**

**Amy is leader of the freedom fighters? I figured since Tails is *CENSORED*, might as well make her leader. She has matured, but will be something like her self in the near future. I'm not making her depressed to where she harms herself, or has suicidal thoughts, because no matter how sad she is, I don't think she'd ever think thoughts like that. But that's just me.**

**Shadow married Sally? Yes, he did. **

**Where is Cream at this time? We'll see her next chapter. And how's she doing about not seeing** **Tails? **

**Anyways, this story will be getting more into the action in the next two chapters.**

Please, Review. I wanna know how I'm doing, and any questions. I'm usually open to suggestions, though I am Not in the need for any OC's right now. Now I gotta work on a way for Sonic and Amy to meet...UGH! .

We'll pick up with Sonic entering New Robotropolis next Chapter! Have a nice day!:)


	12. Making Chili Dogs: Rainy Days Can Be Fun

**Alright. Before we get started, some people are going to truly hate me for this chapter. Barely Any questions are answered. For all you SonicXAmy lovers however, you may like it. This chapter picks up almost immediately after where we left off.**

**In this chapter, Scrouge and the Destructix make an unpleasant appearance. May get intense for younger readers, but hey. That's why this story is rated T. There is some slight cursing, too.**

**Please do not think that Sonic and Amy are together, as that is Not the case! You will know if they get together...**

**Enough of the boring stuff... I really do hope you enjoy this chapter as I had to redo it once. I honestly, am a bit disappointed with this, as I could not figure out a more interesting way of Sonic meeting Amy after eight years. Please Review. And I hope you like it.**

* * *

**-Normal POV-**

_(In The City Of New Robotropolis...)_

Sonic was running through New Robotropolis. The city had changed dramatically in his absence. The sky used to be a peaceful, cerulean blue, but now, it was so polluted, you'd think there was always an overcast. The black, smoky skies weren't the worst of the problem, though. The Mobian city was crawling with badniks. Once Sonic had gotten to a certain point, he had to stop running so he wouldn't cause any unwanted attention towards himself.

_What if people recognize me?_ he thought. He stopped walking when he spotted a middle-aged woman with tired eyes, hanging clothes on a clothesline in front of her house.

"Excuse me, miss, but do you think I could borrow a hooded cloak?" Sonic asked the walrus-lady.

"Of course, deary," the woman said in monotone, handing him a dull, brown cloak.

"Thank you, miss," Sonic smiled. The woman frowned when their eyes connected.

_That can't be-... Could it?_ she thought.

"You look awfully familiar," the woman said, her voice perking up a bit.

"I get that alot," Sonic said nervously, putting the cloak on.

"Thanks again, miss," Sonic said, before running away at a normal pace.

* * *

_This is hopeless! I can't find her anywhere!_ the cobalt speedster thought to himself.

His peripheral vision caught a blob, well, more like a stick, of black, in the background.

_Who is that?!_ Sonic narrowed his eyes at him. The person was entering an alleyway.

_I'd better check that out..._

* * *

Sonic was following the hooded figure down different alleys, for about fifteen minutes. He, was walking on rooftops, so that he/she wouldn't notice him trailing them.

As the hooded figure turned down another alley, four guys came out. They seemed familiar...

"Look who came out to play," a sinister voice said, taking a step closer to the hooded figure Sonic was following. The hooded figure backed up, into one of the guys, who pulled off the hood of his/her cloak.

_Is that? No, it can't be... Looks way too different,_ Sonic thought.

The hooded figure had soft, pink quills that went down to the middle of her back.

"Leave me alone, Scrouge!" the feminine voice of the girl warned..

_Scrouge?!_ Sonic thought in alarm.

"Or what, pinky?"

"Or, I'll break your neck," 'Pinky' threatened.

"Really turning me on, with that little attitude, A..." Scrouge said,seductively. One of Scrouge's friends, grabbed the pink hedgehogs butt.  
She, then, punched him directly in the jaw. He fell back in pain.

"You, bitch! Scrouge, teach that damn trick a lesson!" the man swore angrily.

"My pleasure..." Scrouge smirked. He backed the pink girl up against the wall, and started rubbing her sides. Sonic had had enough. Whoever this girl was, was not going to get hurt while Sonic was around.

"You're mine now-" Scrouge was interrupted by Sonic, jumping off the roof. He had his back leaned up against the wall, arms crossed.

"Yo, Scrougey! Over here! I don't think Fiona would approve of this," Sonic grinned. Scrouge had two of his guys pin the sakura woman to the wall, and stepped in front of Sonic.

"Fi knows she's my main girl. What's it matter to you, blue boy!" the green hedgehog smirked, his icy blue eyes penetrating Sonic's emerald green orbs.

"No need to rape women, because you can't get your own. Now let the lady go, and nobody gets hurt," Sonic warned, his voice cocky, but dead serious.

"Blue boy, you obviously don't know who I am. I'm Scrouge the Hedgehog, leader of the Destructix. I suggest you leave, and let me get back to my play date, or else things'll get ugly," Scrouge fired back. Sonic rolled his eyes.

"One last chance to leave, Scrouge," Sonic said, blatantly annoyed. Scrouge growled, and charged for Sonic. Sonic dodged his attack, causing Scrouge to fall forward.

_That speed... Is it...? It can't be!_ the green counterpart thought.

Dodging his attack made Scrouge even more angry and his craving for blood lust increased.  
He charged at Sonic again, who swiftly dodged his attack, like the last, but this time, Sonic turned, and kicked Scrouge in the back of the head. Scrouge's other three friends, came at Sonic, but again, the speedy, blue hero was too fast for them.

The rosy woman, had fallen down the wall, unable to move from the shock of what just happened to her. It started to rain lightly.

Sonic punched Scrouge in the nose, making it bleed. Scrouge growled at the pain.  
"We'll meet again, hedgehog!" Scrouge's venomous voice hissed, as he and his 'gang' ran away. Sonic turned back to the girl. He walked over to her and kneeled down in front of her.

"Are you okay, lady?" Sonic asked her. The pink girl's eyes looked up and connected with his. It was as if time stopped. Emerald orbs met with pine green orbs.

"Are...are you...?" The pink hedgehog, then, fainted. Sonic picked her up.

_I don't know where to take her!_ Sonic thought. The rain started coming down faster and harder.

_I guess I'll have to settle for Uncle Chuck's then..._ he said. He looked at her, and brushed back a quill that was in her face.

This has to be Amy. She's a whole lot older, but this is definitely her. Those eyes...  
Sonic then, walked to Uncle Chuck's house, not wanting to run in the rain with Amy.

* * *

Sonic knocked onto Uncle Chuck's door, but there was no answer. He jiggled the door knob, but it was locked. Sighing, he went to the back of the house, and opened up a window that was always unlocked. He then, slid himself, and Amy into the house, blushing at how close in contact they were. He then, laid Amy on a his blue bed, and went to his bottom drawer in his dresser to get her a Mina Mongoose and the Forget-Me-Knots T-shirt. He also got out a pair of sweatpants.

Sonic walked into the bathroom and got a white towel to dry her with. He, of course, was going to dry her visible skin, and when she woke up, she could dress herself. He definitely did not want to invade her privacy.

After he was done drying her, he went downstairs.

It was odd how everything looked the exact same way he left it before the failed mission. The living room had an eerie feeling to it. Like something terrible had happened in it.

Sonic, not liking this haunting feeling, decide to go back upstairs to check on Amy.

He looked at her cherry blossom quills. Her pale, apricot muzzle looked soft. He wanted to see her pine green orbs again, but sighed, knowing he'd have to wait. His eyes, then, adverted to her body. She was muscular, but skinny. Too thin. It wasn't like she was built that way either. She was under what her weight should have been, though she was curvy. Her chest was nice too.

Sonic blushed at his thoughts and cursed his hormones. He then took another look at her. She looked so frail; so fragile...  
"Amy..." he whispered, inaudibly.

The sakura hedgehog's eyes fluttered open, revealing two, beautiful, green orbs. She coughed and sat up.  
_U...Uncle Chuck's? No... this can't be..._ she thought.  
She then looked up, and her eyes connected with Sonic's.

She let out a tiny scream, in shock that he was actually here.

"NO!" she yelped. "You were never coming back! They-... they ALL said that! I'm hallucinating now. I am crazy," she muttered to herself.

Sonic would've laughed if he didn't know the pain she must've gone through while he was away.

"Amy... You're not crazy. It's really me. I swear..." Sonic said, turning in a 360 degree turn for her, ultimately 'proving' that he was really there. Amy stood up, and reached her hand out to touch his peach chest. She held her hand there for less than two seconds, before she fell to the floor, sobbing hysterically.

"I thought you were never to return!" she screamed. Sonic felt his heart ache again.

"They said you were never going to come back! I knew you weren't dead! I knew it!" she said in between sobs. Every tear that fell was like a stab in the heart to Sonic.

"Shh, shh... Amy, I'm here, now. Please stop crying," Sonic practically begged. The true blue hero was known for not liking tears.

"H-how can I stop crying?" she sobbed, hiccuping. "You're back! Nobody else had hope, but you returned!"

"What can I say, Ames? I die hard," Sonic grinned. His grin only made Amy sob more. He frowned at the sight.

"I m-missed you s-so MUCH!" Amy cried, hugging Sonic's leg.

"Amy... You're blubbering now," Sonic smiled sincerely at her.

"B-but I missed you!" Amy cried into his leg.

"Amy, my torso is up here," Sonic smirked at her. She stopped crying and looked up at him.

"Really?" she asked in a small voice. Sonic answered by helping her up from the floor. Amy, then locked Sonic in a hug. And let's just say this: It was not a death hug, or a half-hug. It was a hug filled with love. One-sided, love, anyways.  
"I missed you," Amy repeated, her voice more steady. Sonic didn't respond. She pulled away from him.

"What? Didn't you miss me, too?" she questioned.

"Well, er, uh-" Sonic stuttered at her sudden change in attitude.

"So you didn't?" Amy asked, anger flaring in her voice. She crossed her arms.

"It's not that I didn't miss you," Sonic said, quickly, "it's just that I didn't really... have time to miss you..."

"What do you mean?" Amy asked, still a little miffed.

"Uh, well, ya see... I wasn't really... myself those past eight years..." Getting no response from Amy, Sonic decided to continue.

"Tikal had me 'preserved' inside of the Master Emerald, so that I wouldn't die. She released me yesterday. I would've visited you sooner, if I'd had my memory. This morning, I got it back. It feels like were we just in Soleanna the other day, to me," Sonic explained.  
"Sonic...why'd you break your promise?" Amy asked.

* * *

_"Don't you ever leave me again, Sonic the Hedgehog!" she cried. Sonic decided it was time. He pulled out a white rose and got down on one knee._

_"Don't you worry, Amy. I never will..." Sonic said back, winking._

* * *

"I value your life more than my own, or any promise I will ever make, Amy," Sonic said.

There was a long silence.

"Thank you for saving me, today, Sonic," Amy whispered.

"Anytime, Ames. You can count on me, wherever, whenever," the cobalt hero said into her left ear. His lips partially touch her ear, sending shivers down her spine.

"Please...never leave me, again, Sonic," Amy pleaded, wrapping her arms around her blue crush's neck. Sonic said nothing, and hugged her back, his arms snaking around her waist. Sonic could see her blush from the side of his eyes. He smiled and pulled away.  
"So, do you know anything about our friends?" Sonic asked. Amy's face darkened.

"Well, uh..."  
"How about this. You can fill me in tomorrow on what I missed the past eight years. Right now, I'm getting you a cheeseburger," Sonic said, nodding towards her stomach.

Amy looked down, and frowned.

"I'm not hungry-"

"Well, too bad. Your weight is not healthy. What happened, Ames?" Sonic asked. Amy sat down on the bed.  
"When you never left the Soleanna base...I stopped working. Cream had to take care of me the first year..." the pink woman said.

"Which sucked because she was going through the whole 'Tails never came back, either' thing..."

"Amy-"

"I know what you're gonna say! I was 'stupid', or, 'don't let me be the root of your problems', but Sonic... You don't know the effect you have on me... When you vanished, it was like part of me vanished, too. You were my other half... my base." Sonic said nothing, so Amy continued.

"And then, I decided, I wasn't making the current situation of Mobius any better, so I formed a new band of Freedom Fighters. And yesterday, we shut down one of the Doctor's mini-bases. Bunnie found a flash drive there, and Rotor is analyzing it. Tomorrow morning, we're meeting. Rotor told me today that he found something on it..." Amy finished.

"Amy... I... am very proud of you," Sonic said, putting his hands on her shoulders. Amy practically melted at his touch. That's right, folks. He still had that effect on her.

"We can talk about this later... Right now, I'm getting you a chili dog supreme at my Uncle's restaurant," Sonic grinned. Amy's smile dropped immediately.

"Uh, Sonic... I'm afraid we can't go there..."  
"Why not?" Sonic asked.

"Uncle Chuck disappeared a few days after our failed mission. Nobody's seen him since..." Amy said.

What...? After... all I've been through with him...? He's gotta still be alive! Sonic thought to himself.

Amy hugged Sonic's waist.

"I'm sorry, Sonic," she whispered.  
"S'okay," Sonic muttered. "He's still alive. I know he is..."  
Amy didn't respond.  
There was nothing Sonic could do now about the disappearance of his Uncle, so he decided to focus on Amy's current situation.

"But, you, need to eat. I can't have you going around like a skeleton, anymore..." Sonic trailed off as Amy frowned.

"Do I really look that bad?" she whimpered. Sonic's eyes widened in shock.

"No! That's not what I meant! I mean that you... well..." he couldn't find the right words to describe.

Amy giggled at his loss for words.

"I know what you mean, silly." Sonic sighed in relief.

"Do you know a place around here to get some grub?" the blue guy asked the pink girl.  
"Let's got to the HQ. I can make us some chili dogs," Amy giggled.

"Let's do it!" Sonic grinned. "Oh, wait. I got you some clothes since yours are wet from the rain," Sonic said, handing her the T-shirt.

"Thank you so much," Amy smiled. "Turn around," she commanded. Sonic complied without a word.

"Alright. I'm ready to go," she said. The royal blue hedgehog turned around. He grinned at her outfit. Amy verbally gave Sonic the directions.  
"Let's go!" Sonic said, as the two left Uncle Chuck's two story (three story if you count the basement, four story if you count the attic) house.

* * *

The two had decided to walk to HQ, as the ground was still wet. They kept bumping hands, accidentally, so on the fourth time, Sonic just decided to end the teasing, and grab her hand. It surprised him how well hers molded into his.

* * *

The duo had finally reached the warehouse, and Amy opened the door.

"It's not much, but none of the badniks ever suspect a thing," the pink hedgehog grinned.

"It's great, Amy," Sonic smiled, looking around. He wasn't lying. They had a computer in a corner, some furniture... It was a perfect HQ.

* * *

As Amy cooked, they talked.

"Wanna help me make the chili?" she asked him. Sonic nodded and stood in front of a cutting board.

"What do you need me to do, Ames?" Sonic asked.

"Mince the jalapenos?" Amy questioned.

"Uh, sure!" Sonic mumbled. _What the hell is mincing?_ He started cutting them, very slowly. He thought he heard a giggle from Amy, but when he turned to look at her, she was busy with the stove. Sonic turned back to his '_mincing_', when he felt two hands on his.

"Like this, silly," the pink hedgehog giggled. She helped him mince. They were still going at a slow pace, though.

"And I thought you, were supposed to be the fastest thing alive," Amy tsked, letting go of his gloved hands.

"I am!" Sonic pouted. "Watch this." He now had mastered the art of mincing, so he decided to take it full speed. In a matter of seconds, Sonic the Hedgehog had minced 37 jalapenos.  
"Well, then, speedy. Put 'em into the bowl." Sonic grinned in triumph. He had impressed her. Even when he was younger, he had a thing for wanting to impress the girl.

* * *

When the chili and hot dogs were done cooking, the two sat down at the warehouse HQ table, and ate in silence. Amy looked up from her plate, and saw that Sonic spilled some of his chili on the side of his muzzle. She giggled.

"What?" Sonic asked, eyebrow arched.

"You have chili all over your face," Amy cackled, cutely.  
What Sonic did next, shocked Amy. He scooped up some of the chili that was on his last dog, leaned over the table, and smeared it all over her cherry blossom face. Amy, gasped in shock. She didn't know whether to laugh, or scold him. She wanted to do both.

"You really shouldn't have done that!" she growled. Sonic laughed at her attempt to sound menacing. While he was dying of laughter, Amy threw some of her chili at his torso.

"So you're gonna be like that, eh, Ames?" Sonic grinned like a madman. She giggled at him and nodded.

"How about a hug?" Sonic threatened. His pink friend's eyes widened.

"N-no!" she said, getting up and making a break for it. Didn't matter anyways, because Sonic was behind her in a blink of an eye, wrapping his arms around her waist. He then, pressed her back against his chest, making her squeal at the touch of the warm chili.

"Sonic! Get OFF of me!" the rosy woman giggle-shrieked.

"Never!" Sonic protested, picking her up. He was about to start running, when she tripped him, making them both fall onto the floor. Sonic landed on top of her. Amy blushed at how close they were in contact.

"You smell good," Sonic grinned his lopsided smile at her.

"Shut up," Amy rolled her eyes playfully. The blue hedgehog got off of her, and carried her back to Uncle Chuck's house, where the duo would crash for the night.

* * *

_(That Night at Uncle Chuck's House...)_

Amy had just gotten out of the shower, and put on a huge shirt that went down to her mid thighs, alongside some short plaid pajama shorts. She dried her quills, grabbed one of Sonic's old brushes, and left the bathroom.

"Hey, Ames, so I got two movies you can choose from-" Sonic stopped talking when he looked up and saw her. Because her shirt was so long, it looked like she wasn't wearing pants.

"Uhh..." he said, trying to distract his started to brush through his quills.

"What are the two movies?" Amy asked, unaware of his dilemma.

"Well, er...uh, Chao in Space, or Night of the Werehog..." Sonic answered, scratching his head.

"How about Night of the Werehog?" Amy asked, smirking.

"S...sounds like a plan," Sonic forced a grin, speeding out of the room.

* * *

The two friends sat on the couch in the living room, to watch the horror flick.

"Are you scared?" Sonic asked Amy, smirking. She was sitting on the far end of the olive colored couch, her knees to her chest, and her face in her hands.

"N-no!" she stuttered. Sonic grinned and after a minute, he used his gloved hand, to crawl up Amy's leg, making her scream.

"AHH!" she cried, leaping onto Sonic's torso, wrapping her arms around his neck. The sakura hedgehog, buried her face into his chest.  
"Woah, Ames... Calm down. I was just messin' with ya," Sonic tried his best to hold back his laughter.  
"You're not funny, you know!" she said, slapping his arm. It wasn't hard, and it definitely did not hurt. He grinned at her.

"I think I'm hysterical," Sonic said, wagging his finger at Amy.  
"More like '_mental_'," Amy muttered, playfully. She kept her embrace with Sonic for the rest of the movie.

"I really did miss you," she whispered in his ear, sending shivers down his spine.

"Well, I'm back, now... And I plan to stay," he whispered back, his eyes meeting hers.

* * *

_(In Eggmanland at Robotnik/Eggman's Base...)_

"YOUR-EGGLINESS...! THE-MASTER-EMERALD-HAS-BEEN-ACTING-VERY-STRANGE!" a badnik stated, walking up to an egg-shaped dictator.

"What do you mean 'acting strange'?" Robotnik questioned.

"IT-DOES-NOT-GLOW-ANYMORE. IT-HAS-BECOME-DULL."

"Well! Don't just stand there! Let me see!" the doctor screeched. Two other Eggman-made mechs came forward, bring the Master Emerald with them. The first badnik, had not lied. The emerald, had become lifeless. It lost its luster.

"Tikal!" Robotnik growled.

* * *

**What the heck is Robotnik/Eggman complaining about NOW? I mean, he successfully conquered Mobius, right? Well...here's the deal...**

**In this story, Tikal was in the master emerald. She just broke out. Now, the master emerald is powerless. **

**Next chapter, we shall pay the '****_happy_****' couple, Sally and Shadow a visit in the Castle Acorn- I mean... Castle Eggman... *Eggman can not think of Creative names, that's for sure xD*  
We then, see what Rotor has to say about the flash drive... You guys'll like that :) **

**REVIEW, please. I want to hear your thoughts. PM me questions. You can review suggestions. I just don't like doing OC's, so keep that in mind...**

**Anyways... I'll see you next Chapter. Have a Nice Day!:)**


	13. I'll Help You: Tikal's Advice

**HAPPY 22nd ANNIVERSARY, SONIC THE HEDGEHOG! **

**Sorry it's been awhile since I last updated... I wanted to the 20th, but I was at my friends house, I wanted to the 21st, but I saw Monsters University with my little brother for my birthday, and I wanted to the 22nd but that was my Actual birthday... So I had to settle for Sonic's birthday... today.**

**ANYWAYS... here's a small dictionary for you guys...**

**New Robotropolis: The new version of New Mobotropolis**

**Republic of Eggman: Eggman's now conquered version of the Republic of Acorn**

**Castle Eggman: An Eggman version of the Castle Acorn**

**^^They are literally the same places, just named differently. Not a big deal.**

**This Chapter took me forever, because y'all know I hate filler chapters... Eh, it turned out okay. Please REVIEW. I NEED TO KNOW That doesn't sound desperate or anything...rofl**

**I really do hope you enjoy because Shadow is in here *Second favorite character alert*  
And BEFORE I get any hate, I KNOW I made Cream a wee bit out of Character. It'll explain, and she'll go back to being her normal self in the next few chapters.**

**Now that we're done with that! Please Read Chapter 13!**

* * *

**-Normal POV-**

_(With Queen Sally at Castle Eggman...)_

It was about midnight in New Robotropolis. Queen Sally Alicia Acorn, was on the balcony that connected to her sleeping chambers. It had a once beautiful view of New Mobotropolis... Now, it had a view over the polluted city of New Robotropolis.

As she looked at the once beautiful scenery, she let a few tears escape.

"There's no use in crying, Sally-girl," she whispered to herself.

"I'd have to agree," a cold voice agreed. Sally turned to see her ebony husband behind her.

"S-Shadow..." Sally muttered.

"Go to bed, Sally Acorn," Shadow commanded.

"Don't. Tell. Me. What. To. Do," Sally growled. Shadow said nothing. He just stared at her. His crimson orbs penetrated her aqua blue ones.  
Becoming uncomfortable under his stare, Sally decided she'd go to bed. As she walked by him, her shoulder brushed against his, roughly.

"Hmph," Shadow said, crossing his arms. He then, followed his wife, into their sleeping chamber.

* * *

_(With Sonic and Amy at Uncle Chuck's House...)_

The alarm clock on the blue nightstand, read two in the morning. A roll of thunder sounded through the entire town of New Robotropolis. It was raining, again.

Sonic and Amy were laying on Sonic's bed. Sonic however, couldn't sleep. He'd been staring at Amy for the past hour, ogling at how grown up she was. It was weird to think that just the other day, for him, anyways, that she was twelve.

He, involuntarily, rubbed her cheek, gaining a subconscious moan from Amy. His hand froze where it was. It took everything in his power, to not laugh.

He removed his hand from her cheek, and got out of bed.

Maybe a shower will relax me...

Sonic got a towel out of the hall closet, and walked into the bathroom. He turned the water on, making sure it was hot. The blue hedgehog, then, took off his gloves, and socks, and stepped into, the shower.

It felt good, the water running down his spikes.

* * *

Sonic had just finished washing the remainder of the soap out of his quills, when he heard a high pitched scream.

He grabbed his towel, wrapping it around his waist, and was out of the bathroom in two seconds, flat.

"AHHH!" the scream sounded again. Sonic sped into his room, to see that his pink friend was having a nightmare.

"Woah, Ames," Sonic said, patting her hand. She felt his touch, and started to scream again.

"Amy!" Sonic said, waking her up. Her eyelids revealed two jade orbs. She was crying in her sleep.

"Oh, Sonic!" she wailed, clutching onto his neck, making him fall on top of her. She didn't even care that he was wet.

"Are you okay?" Sonic asked in a comforting voice. This only made Amy sob even more.

"Ames... you've probably lost half of your body's water these past two days..." Sonic joked.

"Y-you were gone!" the sakura woman whimpered.

"Don't worry, Amy. I'm here now..." Sonic said, patting her head, awkwardly. Her grip on him tightened.

"Why are you wet?" she questioned in a small voice, after a comfortable silence. She let go of him.

"I was showering, and then I heard you scream," Sonic admitted, sheepishly. "What was that all about?" the cobalt hedgehog asked her.

"I had a bad dream... You were gone again..." Amy whispered.

"Amy... I'm not leaving," Sonic whispered, sitting down by her. The cherry blossom lady grabbed her cobalt crush's hand.

"I know..." Amy nodded, smiling slightly.

_Knock, knock!_

_Who could that be?_ Sonic wondered.

"I'll be right back, Amy," Sonic said, squeezing Amy's hand, before exiting his bedroom. He quickly dried himself off, and headed for the front door.

As Sonic opened the door, he saw a peach echidna girl collapsed on the ground, soaked from the rain.

"Tikal?" Sonic questioned. He didn't get a response, so he picked her up, and carried her inside.

* * *

Amy and Sonic were standing in the doorway of the guest bedroom, looking at an unconscious Tikal.

"How do you think she left the Master Emerald?" Amy wondered aloud.

"I dunno," Sonic shrugged. "We can ask her in the morning before we hit up the freedom fighters."

"Alright..." Amy said, taking one last look at the sleeping echidna.

"C'mon, Ames. Let's get some shut eye," Sonic smiled, grabbing her wrist, gently. He led her into his room, where they both laid on the bed, snuggled up together... Well, Amy was cuddling with him. Sonic was laying with his hands behind his head.  
He smiled at his pink friend, and drifted off, into a deep slumber.

* * *

**The Next Morning**

Tikal woke up, in a beige room. She yawned, and sat up.

_This must be Sonic's house..._ she thought. Tikal hopped out of bed, and opened the door to her guest bedroom.

"I must talk to Sonic..." the blue-eyed echidna muttered. She walked out, into the upstairs hallway. She assumed that his bedroom, was the one that had a sign saying, "Sonic's Bedroom; Go Away Unless You're Tails." She giggled at the bad handwriting, and knocked on the door.

"Come in..." she heard a groggy male voice say. She opened the door, and stepped into a blue room. She saw Sonic on the bed, somewhat holding a sleeping Amy.

"Oh, I, er, didn't mean to interrupt-" Tikal stuttered, blushing at their position. Sonic laughed at her assumption.

"It's fine, Tikal," Sonic chuckled. He got up, setting Amy's upper body down gently, and walked over to Tikal.

"Let's go downstairs and talk about this over breakfast," Sonic grinned. Tikal nodded, and followed the cobalt hero downstairs.

* * *

"I shall make your meal," Tikal stated. It wasn't really an offer, but a statement.

"No. You really don't have to-" She cut Sonic off, by saying,

"What is Amy's favorite thing to eat?" Tikal interrupted.

"Soft served ice cream, but it's a little early for that-" Sonic was interrupted a second time, but by a new voice.

"It's never too early for ice cream," Amy argued, playfully, coming up behind Sonic, and hugging him tenderly. Sonic's muzzle went a little pink by her unexpected touch, but this went unnoticed by Amy. Tikal smiled at his pink tinted face.

"Good morning, Tikal," Amy smiled at the echidna girl.

"Salutations, Amy," Tikal returned Amy's warm smile.

* * *

After the trio finished their breakfast, Sonic decided it was time to get some answers.

"So, Tikal," Sonic started, "How did you leave the master emerald, ya know, without looking like a ball of white fire?"

"After I used up much of the server's energy, by preserving you, I decided it would be my time to escape the Master Emerald, so Doctor Robotnik could no longer manipulate me. I am now, live again," Tikal explained. "The only thing is that..."  
"What?" Sonic asked, his ears perking up a bit.

"Chaos, is still trapped inside the Master Emerald. Dr. Robotnik, is planning on collecting all seven chaos emeralds again, to cause mass destruction," Tikal mumbled.

"But, doesn't he have all the chaos emeralds already?" Sonic asked.

"Well, technically," Amy started. "But he has them all located in different places. For the most part, us freedom fighters have not been making much progress. Without Tails, it's been hard to come up with devices to help us track the emeralds... All of his inventions were confiscated by Dr. Eggman a few days after he completed his quest for world domination..."

Everyone was silent for a bit.

A sudden banging on the front door, broke the silence.

"Come in!" Sonic called. "Unless you're a SWATbot!" he added. Cream the Rabbit, ran into Uncle Chuck's house, panting.

"Hey -pant- Amy. I figured -pant- since you weren't -pant- at your house, -pant- you'd be here -pant-." Cream straightened up a bit and turned to Sonic and Tikal.  
"Hello -pant- Mr. Sonic- MR. SONIC!" the rabbit screeched.

"Woah, Cream. Calm down," Sonic said.

"You're DEAD!" Cream wailed. Sonic put an arm around the fourteen year old bunny.

"No, I'm not, Cream. Long story, short, I'm back, and not leaving anytime soon," the cobalt hero grinned. Cream nodded, but still looked a little out of it.

"Cream, this is Tikal-"  
"I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR INTRODUCTIONS!" Cream snapped. "We need to get to HQ, now!" Cream, then, flew out of the house, with her ears, leaving the three others alone.

"She's so... unlike herself..." Sonic trailed off.

"Get used to it. She's been like that ever since Tails didn't return from the failed mission," Amy sighed, sadly.

_Tails... He couldn't be... Could he?_

Sonic shook the thought from his head when Amy spoke.

"Well, we'd better get going. I don't want her to come back..." Amy said. Sonic nodded.

"Are you coming, Tikal?" the sakura hedgehog asked the peach echidna. The tribal girl shook her head.

"I need to pay King Shadow and Queen Sally a visit," she said. "I'll see you soon," Tikal smiled slightly.

"Alright. You know how to get to the Castle?" Sonic asked. Tikal shook her head.

"It's in the center of Robotropolis. Just keep going southeast from here," the cobalt hedgehog directed.

"Thank you," the echidna girl smiled. She then, turned into a glowing white ball, and left the room.

"That was bizarre..." Amy said, scratching her quills.

"Eh, I've seen weirder stuff..." Sonic said, pulling Amy into his arms, and taking off for the warehouse.

* * *

_(Outside of Castle Eggman With Tikal...)_

_This must be it..._ Tikal thought, changing back into her echidna form. She had approached a huge, iron castle, that had SWATbots surrounding the outside.

_Now how shall I get in...?_

She then, got an idea.

"Help!" she called, in fake fear.

"WHAT-IS-IT-PRETTY-GIRL?" one of the SWATbots asked, approaching her.

"Some protesters are at the New Robotropolis Library, questioning Dictator Robotnik's rule! Stop it immediately!" Tikal lied, using immense amounts of mock terror and anger.

"WILL-DO! ALL-SWATBOTS-IN-AREA! HEAD-TO-LIBRARY!" another SWATbot announced. Soon, all of the mechs were gone, leaving the castle, unprotected.

"Now, to get in..." Tikal muttered to herself.

* * *

Tikal had been walking down long, confusing corridors for about ten minutes, when she came across a room. In it, was an ebony and scarlet hedgehog, with a golden crown on his head, and a mahogany cape on. He also, had a gold shoulder clasp.

_This must be him.._. the echidna girl thought.

She approached him from behind, careful not to make any sound. She was about to tap on his shoulder, when the world went blurry.

When she could focus on him again, he was up against her. She, however, was up against one of the cold brick walls.

"Who are you?" King Shadow's icy voice asked.

"Tikal, Princess of the Ancient Echidna Tribes."  
"Why are you here?" Shadow asked.

"To speak to you about your unfair deeds," Tikal said in a hard, but kind, voice.

"What about them?" the black king asked in a solemn voice.

"You need to stop listening to Doctor Robotnik!" Tikal stated, boldly.

"And why should I? He's the only one who understands!" Shadow shouted in Tikal's face. Her aqua blue eyes widened in fear, but she didn't stop.

"You know why you should. Deep down, you know that what he's doing is wrong." She could tell that he wasn't listening.

"Maria wouldn't want this!" she yelled a bit louder than what she wanted to. Her kind voice, echoed throughout the room, throughout the corridors, in a harsh tone. Shadow tensed, and his hands, that were against the wall, grabbed her neck.

"Don't you EVER, bring Maria into this," Shadow said in a voice so venomous, so terribly sinister, that even the notorious Dr. Ivo Robotnik would bow down in fear. However, Tikal's want for peace, made her hold her ground.

"Strangling me, taking over Mobius, and killing innocent people will never make up, for Maria's loss, Shadow," Tikal said in a soft voice. "She's gone... And there's nothing we can do about-"

"THEY ARE TO BLAME! EVERYONE OF THESE MOBIANS ARE AT FAULT!" Shadow screamed.

"How, may I ask, is the baby that was born yesterday, at fault, here? Be reasonable, Shadow," Tikal said, frowning. Shadow thought for a minute, and said nothing. He took his hands away from her throat.

"I..." Shadow started.

"It's not too late to turn the situation around. The doctor manipulated your thoughts and memories. You're still a good person, Shadow," Tikal smiled. Her smile, brought back memories. The blue hedgehog. Amy. His partner Rouge. The real promise he made to Maria.

"It was all a lie..." he muttered to himself.

"I'll help you through this, Shadow," Tikal said, holding his hand.  
"I don't need your help," Shadow said, jerking away at the physical contact.

"Everybody needs help at one point. It doesn't make you any less of a person, Shadow. That's the difference between you and my father. He was truly evil. He couldn't be helped. You, however, are not, and can be. I will help you through all of this," Tikal promised. Shadow nodded. The echidna girl, squealed with delight, and hugged his waist. He patted her head awkwardly.

"But first, I have to set things straight with Sally..." he muttered, taking off for the door.

* * *

Queen Sally Acorn was standing in the throne room, alone.

"Ahem," she heard someone clear their voice. She turned to see her husband standing behind her, capeless and crownless.

"Shadow... What are you-"

"I'm sorry for the past eight years, Sally. It was wrong of me to put you through that. Please forgive me, if possible..." Shadow apologized to his wife, his voice sounding sincere for the first time since his thoughts were manipulated.

"It wasn't your fault, Shady," Sally smiled at the black hedgehog. Shadow smiled back, slightly, but then frowned.

"But it was still done. From this day forward, I will give you back full control of the Republic of Eggman- er, Acorn. This marriage, will be terminated, whenever you please. Have a good day." And with that, Shadow the Hedgehog, vanished, leaving and orange streak behind.

* * *

_(With Sonic & Amy Outside of the Warehouse HQ...)_

Sonic and Amy had just approached the opening of the base.  
"Hey, guys," Amy said as she and Sonic walked in.

"Amy, Sonic! I'm glad you've arrived. We just found out that- SONIC?!" Rotor's eyes widened.

"Hey, buddy! I'm back!"  
"Wha-? How?" Bunnie said, her Southern twang ringing throughout the headquarter.

"We don't have time for that, Bunnie!" Cream snapped. "Now tell us what you know!" Cream commanded Rotor.

"Well, it's about the location of Miles-"

"I know that! Just tell me where-"  
Cream was interrupted by Bunnie.

"SUGGAH! We know you wanna find your fox friend, but screamin' at us ain't gonna help! Calm, yourself, hun, before you die of the stress," the half robotized rabbit said in a firm voice. Cream nodded, and lapsed into a silence.

"Now continue," Antoine said in his well-known, French accent.

"I'll start from the top. The other day, the freedom fighters got a flash drive from one of Robotnik's bases. It showed us the locations of all seven chaos emeralds and the master emerald, and the whereabouts of Sir Charles Hedgehog, better known as Sonic's Uncle Chuck, and Miles "Tails" Prower," Rotor explained to Sonic. Sonic's heart did a small leap at the mentioning of his uncle and brother.

"And where are they?" the cobalt hedgehog asked eagerly.

"The new and improved: Prison Island. A.k.a, Robotnik's wasteland, prison, where he banishes anyone who gets in his way," the grey walrus said, solemnly.

"Well, then... What're we waiting for?" Sonic asked, uncrossing his arms, and heading towards the exit. Amy grabbed his lanky, apricot arm.

"We can't just go without a plan, Sonic," she said, frowning.

"But it's worked so well before, and we don't have time!" Sonic said.

"But it's a little bit different since before... We get caught, we're dead. We have to organize a plan. I wanna save them just as much as you, but I don't want anyone to get hurt," Amy said, a sadness in her jade eyes.

It was such a shock to Sonic how much she had matured. She was still the same Amy, but she was more responsible. Sonic nodded at her.

"Let's come up with something, then," Meg said. Elias nodded, and grabbed his wife's hand.

* * *

After about two hours, the group of freedom fighters came up with a plan to rescue Uncle Chuck and Tails.

"When do you guys want to meet up-?"

_Knock, knock!_

"Who could that be?" Amy asked.

"Tikal, maybe?" Sonic suggested.

"Come in!"

In walked Tikal and Shadow.

"Get him!" Antoine commanded. Bunnie hopped up and used her robotic arm to pin Shadow to the nearest wall. He complied, not fighting back. He didn't want them to think he was the enemy.

"Stop it!" Tikal cried out.

"You don't understand, Tikal. Shadow's the enemy," Amy said, sadness in her voice.

"No, I'm not. Not anymore, anyways," Shadow defended himself.

"And we're just supposed to believe that?" Elias asked.

"I gave Sally back all control over the Republic. Now can you get _OFF_ of me?" Shadow said. Bunnie looked at Amy, who nodded. She got off.

"I'm sorry, suggah," she apologized.

"It's alright," Shadow said, crossing his arms.

"So what gave you all the initiative to become good?" Meg asked the ebony hedgehog, her eyes narrowing.

"My memories were manipulated. Tikal told me the truth..."

"So all we had to do was tell you the truth?" Rotor asked. Shadow nodded.

"So why didn't you?" Sonic asked.

"I tried..." Amy said, shuddering at the memory. She turned her left arm around, to reveal a large scar.

Sonic's eyes widened, and he rushed over to her, grabbing her arm, gently, but firmly.

"You did this?" he growled at Shadow. The black hedgehog did not answer, out of shame and pity.

"I'll be back later..." he said, leaving his famous orange streak behind.

"Shadow! Wait!" Tikal said, running after her black friend.

"We should leave around midnight," Rotor said.

* * *

_(With Shadow and Tikal On A Rooftop In New Robotropolis...)_

"Shadow..." Tikal's kind voice greeted.

"They'll never forgive me, will they?" Shadow asked.

"Yes they will. I have..." Tikal commented.

"Y-you have?" Shadow asked.

"You've changed. I know everything you've done in your past, but you're still you. You've just had bad luck..."

There was a silence.

"I know how it feels to be the outcast, Shadow. My village was made up of bloodthirsty people, who were power hungry. Greed got to my father's head, and he lost all the love he had for my people and I. Our village, was destroyed in one night. I was the only one, aside from my grandmother, who wanted peace, tranquility. I was slaughtered because of it. The master emerald preserved me for the past 4,000 years. Dr. Robotnik manipulated the master emerald's power to make me trick the heroes who were on the failed mission. I broke out a couple of days ago, alongside Sonic, to make things right again. I am now a living being, who will die eventually someday.

"But I will always be an outcast; a freak. I will never truly understand people these days, or their technology. I have to carry on for what I believe in, and try not to let my past get in the way of my present. I only use it as a guideline," Tikal finished.

"You can't repeat the past," Shadow said, his voice hard. Tikal turned to look at him, her icy blue eyes bore through his crimson ones.

"Why of course you can. My father, was wanting to conquer every bit of land he could get his hands onto. Sounds like the doctor's plan to me," Tikal said, wisely. Shadow opened his mouth to say something, but shut it just as quickly.

"Let's go back to Sonic's house, where I am staying," Tikal said, grabbing Shadow's gloved hand. He didn't push her away this time. It was most likely because he didn't want to be rude, or maybe, just maybe, he didn't dislike Tikal as much as he'd like to think. Maybe.

* * *

_(At Uncle Chuck's House With Sonic And Amy...)_

"Do you have everything packed?" Sonic asked his sakura friend.

"Yes. I've got a canteen, N.I.C.O.L.E., matches and a flashlight, power rings, an extra pair of power sneakers, and a bobby pin, in my knapsack," Amy confirmed.

"A bobby pin?" Sonic asked, confused.

"We cannot make ANY explosions whatsoever tonight. We are trying to sneak in, sneak out."

"Well, let's go. It's juice and jam time," Sonic grinned, picking Amy up. She giggled at his cheesy catchphrase.

"Wait," a deep, husky voice said, Sonic turned towards the front door to see Shadow and Tikal standing there.

"We're coming with you," Tikal demanded. Sonic nodded at Shadow.

"Welcome back, faker. It's been a while," the cobalt hero smiled a cheeky grin at the black anti-hero.

"Sure has, blueboy... Rose," Shadow said. Amy smiled at him.

"Well, what are we waiting for. Grab Tikal and make a break for it! It's juicing time!" Sonic grinned, causing a sonic boom out the door.

"Is he always like this?" Tikal asked Shadow.

"He always was a showoff for Amy," Shadow smirked, picking Tikal up, and speeding out of the house.

Little did they know, that tonight, would set their newest adventure in motion.

* * *

**Sooo... Did you like? Yay or Nay? **

**Sorry about the Extreme cheesiness with Sonic: "Juicing Time"? Like really? **

**I was originally gonna have Shadow and Sally end up being in love at the end, but I like Tikal more, so yeah...**

**Next chapter, we shall pick up with The New Mobotropolis Freedom Fighters, heading to Prison Island. Next chapter, is sad. Just letting you know that now.**

**Anyways, please REVIEW. PM me questions/concerns. **

**Wish Sonic a Happy Birthday by playing some of his games. SA2:B or Sonic Heroes? Ehh, I'll play both *Major Gamcube Addict In The House* **

**Anyways, have a nice day!:)**


	14. Prison Break: Batgirl Strikes Again

**Alright. Here I am, with part one. This is only half of what the original chapter was gonna be. I do not like part one, at all. Part two, will be ****_very_**** good though. **

**Shaddie: Rouge's main nickname for Shadow.**

**Really quickly... I'd just like to say thank you to all of my reviewers. I take everything you say, very seriously, and I'm glad you all like this story.**

**Now let's begin, Chapter 14. Hope you enjoy.**

* * *

**-Normal POV-**

_(At The Warehouse HQ...)_

"Okay, so here's the plan," Amy said, silencing everybody. "Rotor will stay here. Rotor hacked into the cameras in Prison Island. Talk with us through N.I.C.O.L.E, if you need to, or these..." Amy took off her wrist communicator, and threw it to the grey walrus. She then grabbed Sonic's forearm, and pointed to his wrist. Sonic's wrist communicator was still on, from the night of the failed mission.

"This is the last thing Tails invented for us, so we use them. We'll never have any better technology," Amy frowned. "Elias and Meg, will go to the Castle Acorn, and evacuate Sally, before Robotnik finds out about Shadow's departure from his side. Bunnie, Antoine, Cream, Shadow, Tikal, Sonic and I will go to Prison Island, and rescue Chuck and Tails. Any questions?"

When nobody said anything, Amy spoke again.

"Good. The X-Tornado's outside," she said, getting up. Sonic sat in amazement at his pink friend. She was taking charge. She had an entire plan set out, and wasn't about to let anything get in the way.

"She's... changed..." Sonic muttered.

"No, suggah... She's just strong," Bunnie frowned.

"Alright, guys. I'll see ya when you get back," Rotor smiled.

* * *

The Freedom Fighters, alongside Shadow and Tikal, were overhead of Prison Island. Amy was piloting the plane, and the others were sitting, chatting with Rotor through N.I.C.O.L.E. Sonic walked up behind Amy.

"I didn't know you could fly a plane," Sonic commented.

"I had to learn. Someone needed to, since Tails was the pilot..." the sakura hedgehog said.

"I never imagined you as leader of the Freedom Fighters..." Sonic commented again.

"I never did, either..." Amy trailed off.

"You're doing great, though," Sonic smiled. Amy returned the smile as she called out to the others.

"We're gonna be landing in two minutes," she informed.

* * *

As Sonic and Co. got off the X-Tornado, they took a look around. The once, green island, was now brown. The clear, blue skies were now black thanks to the pollution caused by Robotnik's factories. The cerulean water, was an ugly brown. Amy used Sonic's wrist communicator to contact Rotor.

"Rotor!" Amy exclaimed.

"Is everything alright, Amy?" Rotor asked.

"Just wanted to see if the coast is clear, and if Sally's okay," Amy explained.

"Yup. Everything is A-OK. Elias and Meg just brought Sally back to the warehouse. Oh, and none of the SWATbot's on duty can see any of the cameras. They will have no knowledge that you are there. Just don't draw any attention to yourselves..." Rotor then muttered, "Sonic..."

"What?! I don't cause explosions! That's Mister Doom and Gloom over there!" the cobalt hero defended himself.

Shadow, who hadn't been listening to their entire exchanged, had felt a weird presence.

"I'll meet you all back here in an hour. No later. I have to do something..." The ebony hedgehog said, zooming off.

"Shadow!" Tikal called, running after him.

"Should we go after them?" Bunnie asked.

"No. Let's stick with our mission," Amy said, though she sounded unsure.

* * *

_(With Shadow and Tikal In What's Left Of The Forest...)_

_I swear I felt her presence..._ Shadow thought, his eyes narrowing. 'Her' was Rouge the Bat.

"Shadow!" a peaceful voice called. Shadow turned to face Tikal the Echidna.

"What do you want?" Shadow questioned. Tikal hesitated for a second.

"I just want to see what you're doing, Shaddie-"

"Don't. Call. Me. That!" Shadow's voice said, seething in anger.

"I... I'm sorry if I offended you in anyway, Shadow..." Tikal apologized.

"Why are you sorry for something so little?" the black and red hedgehog asked, quizzically.

"I want to become your friend. You need one. Anyone can see that." It may have sounded like a rude comment, but Tikal's tone sounded sincere, kind.

"Well, it's none of your concern!" Shadow snapped.

"Why are you acting like this towards me. I have been nothing but kind towards you!" Tikal said, her eyes up to the brim with tears. When Shadow said nothing, Tikal fell to her knees, sobbing. She buried her face in her hands. When Shadow heard her muffled crying, he turned to look at her.

"I had a friend. Two friends to be exact. One was shot on Space Colony ARK, and the other, was separated from me on a failed mission. She, is presumably dead, too. I don't want any friends, because they all seem to die," Shadow said, crossing his arms. Tikal's sobbing stopped. Shadow closed his eyes, remembering Maria's face. He, then, felt a pair of arms wrap around his black waist.

"Shadow..." Tikal muttered.

Shadow couldn't hug her back, as he was not facing her, and even if he was, he wouldn't have. He decided he'd better endure it, and not do anything, though, when she let go, he felt himself feel a bit of longing. Longing for her touch again.

"Now, please tell me why you came out here," Tikal whispered, grabbing his chin, gently, facing him towards herself.

"He came, to look for me," a monotonic voice rang out. Surprisingly, the voice belonged to a sultry bat.

"Hiya, handsome," Rouge smirked. It was weird hearing her voice without the seductive snap. At Rouge's comment, Tikal felt a twinge of jealousy.

"Rouge?" Shadow said, his arms uncrossing. Rouge flew down, and went up to Shadow.

"I missed you, Shaddie," Rouge smiled a genuine smile. Shadow pulled her in for a hug, which made Tikal shake slightly in jealousy.

_Not only can she call him 'Shaddie', but he actually hugs her, too? Why does he hate me so much?_

"Oooh, who's your new lady friend?" the ivory bat asked, her sultry voice coming back. Shadow pulled away from her.

"Tikal. And she's not my 'friend'," Shadow said gruffly, crossing his arms. Tikal, got up, and ran away.

"Smooth move, idiot," Rouge rolled her eyes. Shadow ignored her.

"Why are you here? I thought you were dead!" his voice started to rise.

"I would've left, if I could..." Rouge frowned.

"What do you mean?" Shadow asked, skeptically.

"I'm stuck here. This," she lifted up her left arm, "is why I'm here." On her wrist, there was a chunky, black bracelet.  
"If I try to escape, SWATbots come after me. And it won't break. I've tried..."

"Well, today, we're breaking out Tails and Sonic's uncle. Do you know where they might be?" Shadow asked.

"In prison cells. Probably the underwater ones, at that... And who is 'we'?" Rouge asked.

"We, as in Amy, Bunnie, Antoine, Tikal, Cream, and Sonic-"

"Sonic?!" Rouge interrupted. "I thought he was dead!"

"We all did. The hero never dies..." Shadow muttered.  
"Well, you better get Tikal, before the badniks do..." Rouge advised.

"She'll be fine-"

"AHHHHHHHH!" they heard a piercing scream. Shadow's crimson eyes widened, and he took off, at the speed of sound, to where the blood curdling scream was being made.

* * *

_(With Sonic And The Freedom Fighters Inside The Prison...)_

So far, the group of five had made it past fourteen security doors, and many corridors.

"N.I.C.O.L.E." Amy spoke to the device in her hands.

"Yes-Amy?" N.I.C.O.L.E. asked.

"Find me a map of the inside of the prison," Amy demanded.

"Alright-Amy. Searching-your-request," the robotic voice answered. N.I.C.O.L.E. did a few scans.

"I-have-pulled-up-a-map-of-the-prison-that-is-loca ted-on-Prison-Island," the device informed.

"Great! Thank you," Amy said. As she observed the map on N.I.C.O.L.E's screen, she noticed something.

"This looks exactly like the prison did before the original island blew up!" Amy said, shocked.

"Of course it is, hun. The doctor decided to go with the original plan," a sultry voice said. The group of five looked up to see Rouge the Bat, standing behind them.

"Rouge?" Amy's eyes widened.

"Hey, pinky. Long time, no see," she winked at Amy. Amy's eyes started to water a bit, and we all know how she felt about the promiscuous bat.

"No. Don't get all mushy on me, pink stuff," Rouge snapped, even though her eyes were watering, too.

"I don't even like you," Amy said, hugging Rouge.

"The feeling's mutual, you little brat," Rouge said, crying into Amy's quills. Sonic stood there confused.

"What the hell-?"

"Why didn't you come back?!" Amy said, interrupting Sonic.

"I couldn't. I'm imprisoned here," Rouge said, pointing to the black bracelet that was on her wrist.

"Let me get that off for ya, suggah," Bunnie offered stepping forward, getting her mechanical arm ready. Rouge handed Bunnie her wrist. The half-robotized rabbit pressed against the bracelet, but nothing happened.

"It's too strong, suggah," Bunnie frowned, her southern twang puzzled.

"Let me try," Sonic offered. Rouge snorted.

"I doubt if Miss Rabbot over here can't get it off, your puny little spin dash can't do it, either," the ivory bat said, mocking the blue hero. Sonic ignored her.

"Just put out your wrist," he said, tapping his foot in impatience.

"Fine!" she snapped, irritated.

Sonic curled himself up into a ball, and hurled himself at the 26 year old bat's wrist. It all happened so fast, the only proof that it did happen, was the black bracelet, that now laid on the floor.

"Oh my stars..." Bunnie whispered in shock. Amy smirked.

"You certainly have gotten a bit stronger," the sakura hedgehog said, punching his arm, lightly.

"Still lanky, but stronger," Rouge smirked.

"Lanky?" Sonic frowned. Everybody laughed at his realization.

"Well, we need to get going," Amy said, being the responsible one, yet again.

"I heard you're headed to find Sonic's uncle and Foxboy..." Rouge said.

"And?" Antoine asked.

"Do you even know where they are?" Rouge asked.

"Nah, we were just gonna wing it," Sonic answered. Rouge rolled her eyes.

"Do you know where they are?" Amy asked the batty woman.

"Yes. Last I heard, they were being held in one of the underwater cells," Rouge responded. "And you're gonna need my help to find them. I can hack into the doctor's computer, as I did with ARK."

"You'd really help us?" Sonic asked. Rouge nodded.

"Why?" Cream asked.

"I want you to save the world, and de-robotize everyone who have been robotized," Rouge said her voice cold.

"You're not in it for zee jems?" Antoine asked. Rouge shook her head.

"I want the Guardian of the Master Emerald back..."

_Guardian of the Master Emerald..._ Sonic thought.

"What happened to Knuckles?" the blue blur asked. Rouge's face darkened.

"He was robotized by the doctor a few years back," the bat said, her ears drooping. "I haven't seen him around..."

"Oh..." Sonic frowned.

_I should have been nicer to him... He was one of my best friends..._ the cobalt male thought.

"Well, Rouge... Lead the way," Amy said, changing the subject.

We'll rescue you soon, Knuckles... I promise... Sonic clenched his fist in determination.

And with that, the group of six, headed deeper into the prison, to find their twin tailed friend, and Sonic's mustached uncle.

* * *

_(With Tikal In The Polluted Forests Somewhere...)_

_He doesn't understand... I just wanted to be his friend... To help him... And then he threw it in my face!_

Tears stained Tikal's beautiful face. She just wanted to make a friend.

_What did I do to possibly make him hate me?_

She got up, decided crying about it wouldn't change anything. Just as she turned, she bumped into something, cold, hard, and metallic.

As she looked up, she saw the words 121-Sigma, faded out on the badnik's torso.

"AHHHHHHHH!" she screamed. She stumbled backwards, and fell over a large rock. Her arm began to bleed, slightly. She winced in pain at the sight.

"YOU-SHALL-BE-TERMINATED!" the mechanic voice said in monotone.

"No, she won't," a gruff voice countered. Shadow homing attacked the mech, repeatedly, and flipped in mid-air, landing on his feet. The once 121-Sigma, now laid in pieces, on the trash filled ground.  
Shadow, then, picked Tikal up off the ground, and ran, for a nearby stream.

* * *

As the ebony hedgehog set her down, he examined the echidna girl's wound on her arm.

"It's not too deep, but it could still get infected. I'm taking you back to New Robotropolis," Shadow said. It wasn't really an offer, but a plan.

"How will we get back?" Tikal asked.

"By Chaos Control," Shadow answered, shortly. "I'll leave a note in the X-Tornado to explain to the others," he muttered. "Stay here and don't move. I'll be back, in a second."

And with that, Shadow was out of view. She had sat on the ground, while she waited. He was back in an instant. Tikal counted thirteen in a half seconds.

"Didn't I tell you not to move?" Shadow growled, picking her up.

"Uh, sorry," Tikal muttered.

"Close your eyes," Shadow said, ignoring her apology. Before she could, he took off running.

"AHH!" she squealed, burying her face into his fluffy, white chest. Shadow felt his face begin to feel heated at the contact, but said nothing. When he stopped, they were by a cliff. He then, took out, a emerald green gem.

"What? How did you get one of the seven servers?" Tikal asked.

"The doctor gave me one, so I could take over the Republic of Acorn..." Shadow said, quietly, trailing off.

"Oh..." Tikal muttered, frowning. The black hedgehog felt as if a pin was being struck through his heart at her expression. He didn't know why, as she held the same expression as everyone else did, but it was as if he didn't want to disappoint her.

"CHAOS-!"

* * *

"-CONTROL!"

Shadow decided to take Tikal back to Uncle Chuck's house, to clean her wounds. He managed to find a small, white towel, a bowl, that he filled with water, and gauze. The ebony hedgehog, then, walked downstairs, into the dining room, where the tan echidna was.

He saw her sitting at the table, looking down.

"Give me your arm," Shadow commanded, his voice cold, and hard. Tikal obliged as Shadow diped the towel into the bowl of water. He then, gently, dabbed at her gash. She winced under the ice cold water.

"Thank you for doing this," Tikal smiled.

"Whatever."

"Why do you hate me so?" Tikal asked, her voice wavering. She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes, but she didn't let them fall.

"I don't hate you," Shadow answered, blatantly.

"It's obvious that you do. I just wanted to be friends with you, but you threw it in my face. Then, I thank you for the nice things you do, and you still find a way to make me feel like this!" Tikal said, the tears about to fall.

"How do I make you feel?" Shadow said, his voice softer, less venomous.

"Like I'm stupid... worthless... Like I should give up! I never did anything to deserve that!" the tribal girl said.

"And yet you still sit here, trying to be my friend... May I ask you why?" Shadow said,

"I..." Tikal was speechless, "...don't know why... You intrigue me... I've never met anyone quite like you before... I want to get to know you...become your...friend... But you won't let me!" Tikal said.

"Maybe I don't want to be your friend," Shadow lied. It was so convincing, that even he might've believed it, if it wasn't for her bright, blue eyes that were staring back at him blankly.

"You may hate me. You may not want to be my friend. You may say your nasty comments to me. But I will still continue to be a friend to you," Tikal said, standing up.

"I'm not done!" Shadow growled.

"I'll finish it myself, thank you," Tikal said in a polite voice.

"I'd like to see you try!" Shadow snorted. Tikal rolled her beautiful orbs, and headed upstairs into Sonic's bedroom.

"You forgot the gauze," Shadow called, smugly. Tikal, re-entered the room, and picked it up, smiling at Shadow.

"Thank you, Shadow," she said, sweetly. The next thing she did, was so unexpected, that Shadow was left flustered. She leaned forward, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Shadow's face went pale, at first, but then, turned into the color of his eyes; deep crimson. Tikal smiled at her success, and walked back upstairs.

* * *

_(With Sonic And The Freedom Fighters...)_

Sonic, Amy, Rouge, Cream, Antoine and Bunnie, were in an elevator, heading down towards the underwater jail cells, in the prison.

"I can't wait to see him again!" Cream squealed. 'Him' was her twin tailed friend.

"Calm down, suggah. Ya can't get your hopes up, sweetie," Bunnie, advised, frowning.

"He'll be here," Rouge said, confidently.

"You best, be right," Antoine's eyes narrowed at the bat.

* * *

As the group of six walked down a narrow corridor, they approached a cell. In it was a bed, and many writings on the wall. Not your average tally marks, but intellectual carvings. One, was a carved picture of a rabbit. What caught everybody's attention, was an amber colored fox, hunched over, in a corner.

"T-Tails?" Sonic choked out, as he ran over to the cell. He was, unconscious.

"Don't touch the bars!" Amy warned. It was too late. As Sonic's gloved hands connected with the metal bars, alarms started to go off.

"INTRUDER-ALERT! INTRUDER-ALERT! ALL-SWATBOTS-HEAD-TO-UNDERWATER-FACILITY!" a robotic voice rang through the intercom.  
"No..." Amy gasped. "Rouge! Open the cell, now!" the pink hedgehog commanded.

"You got it," the ivory bat said. She flew over to the scanner to open the cage.

"It has a password!" Sonic facepalmed.

"Shut it, blueboy," Rouge snapped. "KI-NTO-BA-R..." Rouge said, typing the letters in. Aster a bit of loading, green letters appeared on the screen, saying, 'ACCESS ACCEPTED'.

"Get Tails! We have to leave now!" Amy said. Bunnie went over to the unconscious, golden kitsune, and lifted him up, into her arms, with the help of her mechanical limb.

"What about Uncle Chuck?" Sonic asked. He was not leaving without his Uncle.  
"Sonic, we need to leave, suggah," Bunnie said, her eyes somber.

"No. I can't leave without him," the cobalt hero said, turning his back on his friends.

"Sonic. We have to go now!" Rouge said, her voice frantic. "We cannot save your uncle, right now. We will come back."

"WE HAVE TO SAVE HIM!" Sonic screamed at the ivory bat.

"He's much safer here, than we are back in New Robo. If we get caught, we can't save him, or Tails," Amy frowned, biting her lip. She rubbed Sonic's arm. He pulled away from her touch.

"I have to try-"

"INTRUDERS-LOCATED!" a mechanical voice screamed.

"We have to go now!" Amy commanded. She pulled Sonic by his lanky, apricot arm, and led the way out of the prison.

* * *

The team of now seven, were running through endless corridors.

"We're almost there guys," Amy said.

"WHERE-DO-YOU-THINK-YOU-ARE-GOING?" a robotic, but husky, voice called out. Rouge tensed, and everyone stopped running.

"Knuckles?" Sonic asked, his mouth agape. Where Knuckles' smooth, fur should have been, was now hard, metallic, metal. His, once, amethyst eyes were now a cold red.

"MUST-ELIMINATE-ALL-INTRUDERS!"

"Knuckie..." Rouge said, stepping forward.

"I-WILL-ANNIHILATE-ALL-INTRUDERS!" the robotized Knuckles said.  
"Get back!" Sonic hollered. Rouge however didn't listen.  
"I'll take care of Knuckles. Get Foxboy out of here, now," the bat said, her eyes not leaving Knuckle's face. Cream and Antoine ran out the front to help assist Bunnie with Tails.

"Rouge, we can't leave you-" Amy started.

"Leave now," Rouge commanded.

"But Rou-"

"Be careful," Sonic nodded at the bat. Rouge slid him a small smile, and nodded back.

"Now leave!" she snapped. At her final command, Sonic threw Amy over his shoulder, and took off, running out of the base.

* * *

**No Uncle Chuck? Tails wasn't even awake? I want to see Rouge and Knuckles fight! Why's Shadow being like that?! What are Cream's thoughts on Tails?**

**That is why this chapter is Part One. Part Two (next chapter), will have all the fun stuff in it. Sorry I couldn't make this chapter longer, but I have a surprise for you guys soon, so yeah... **

**Anyways, I'll see you guys soon for Part Two. Please REVIEW. PM me questions/concerns. **

**Have a nice day!:)**


	15. Tails Is Back: Relax A Minute

**OMFG. I took forever to update. 10. Freaking. Days. Well, that's a lot to me, anyways. Dear Lord I'm sorry. Summer has been pretty bad for me xD. I've had to go to summer gym from 7:30 to 11:30 every Monday-Friday for awhile now... And I got into the Naruto series. OMG it's so addicting to me. Plus, tomorrow (July 10th), is when I go and see the Bruno Mars concert, and I'm so Excited! I love him...**

**...Anyways, this is Part 2. I hope you like it. A lot of romance, so if you're not into that, don't worry; we'll get back into the adventure next chapter. **

**Review when you're done please. **

**And 40 reviews? That's awesome. Thank you all:)**

* * *

**-Normal POV-**

_(Inside Prison Island...)_

"Hiya, handsome," Rouge smirked at a robotized Knuckles.

"BAT-GIRL! I-WILL-KILL-YOU!"

"I don't think so, Knuckie," the pearl white bat said, though she wasn't so sure.

"YES-I-WILL!" Knuckles said, his anger, flaring.

"Nope! Because you like me," Rouge licked her lips, seductively. That was it. Knuckles roared out in anger, and attacked the ex-treasure hunter.

Rouge narrowly dodged his punch, and flew up into the air.

"Oh, come on, Knucklehead. Is this really the way to treat an old friend?"

"YOU-BITCH! YOU-WERE-ONLY-MEAN-TO-ME!" Knuckles' robotic voice rang out, echoing down the corridor. He threw another punch, and she dodged it, yet again,

though this time, it was much closer.

"YOU-ONLY-WANTED-THE-MASTER-EMERALD! YOU-AND-SONIC-WOULD-MOCK-ME-DAY-AFTER-DAY-AND-FOR- WHAT? I-HATE-YOU!"

_He...hates me?_

Knuckles then, punched at Rouge again, only this time, he didn't miss. Rouge didn't dodge this one. She was paralyzed by his truthful words.

"Agh!" she cried in pain, as she fell to the ground.

* * *

_(At Uncle Chuck's House...)_

_Please wake up soon..._ Cream the Rabbit thought. She was sitting on a chair, in Sonic's room, watching a sleeping Tails.

As if on cue, Tails stirred in his sleep. The fourteen year old rabbit gasped, and threw her arms around the kitsune's neck. The honey colored fox, opened his eyes.

_What the-... Cream?! _Tails thought in alarm.

"Oh, Miles!" the apricot colored rabbit whimpered into Tails' fur.

"Cream..." Tails muttered, prying her face out of his fur so that he could see her.

Her chocolate colored eyes, remained as beautiful as ever, and she had orange bangs, like her mother. She was still petite.

"Cream..." Tails said, taking her teen form in.

"You were gone!" Cream wailed, her grip on the sixteen year old fox tightening.

"I'm... alright, Cream... Really," Tails comforted. Cream bounced on top of him. She then, pulled him in, for a kiss.

It wasn't a long kiss, really... About two seconds, but it happened. Tears were streaming down the young rabbit's face. Tails was still in shock, what with being rescued from his hellhole of a cell, and now, having a girl, that you hadn't seen in eight years, jump on you and kiss you... It was a lot to take in.

"YOU JERK! I HATE YOU!" she screamed.

"Wha-?"

"YOU PROMISED ME THAT YOU WOULD BE OKAY!; THAT YOU WOULDN'T GET HURT!"

* * *

_"Cream," Tails said, putting his hand on her arm. "I'm fine, really. Stop worrying-"_

_"Don't tell me to 'stop worrying', Tails! You come home, injured so badly, you have to wear gauze, and you tell me not to worry? You're my friend, and I worry about you!" Cream shouted._

_"I, I'm sorry I upset you, Cream. But I'm okay," Tails said._

_"Please be more careful, Miles. I don't want you to get hurt!" Cream said, pulling her two-tailed friend in for a hug._

_"I won't, Cream," Tails promised._

* * *

"You lied to me," Cream said, getting off of him.

"Cream..." Tails muttered, his heart aching, "...I'm sorry." Cream shook her head at him.

"I'll see you later, Miles," she said. She slammed the door, on the way out. Tails groaned.

* * *

When the door to Sonic's bedroom opened up, a pink figure was standing in the entrance.

"Tails..." the voice said, cracking.

"A-Amy!" Tails said, trying to get up.

"No. Rest," Amy commanded.

"You...busted me out?" Tails asked.

"Yeah," Amy smiled. "The Freedom Fighters and I did last night. I'm glad to see that you're okay..."

"Same to you, Amy... Do you, uh, mind explaining to me what has happened while I was, ya know, locked up?" the kitsune asked the hedgehog.

"While you and Uncle Chuck were kept as prisoners, Sonic was banished. He... disappeared into thin air. Shadow's mind, was manipulated by Dr. Eggman, so he helped the doctor take over Mobius. Knuckles has been robotized, and Rouge was being held captive on Prison Island.

"It has been eight years since the failed mission. About a week ago, Sonic, returned, mysteriously, and Tikal is now living. Oh, and last night, we found out that Shadow, has one of the seven chaos emeralds, while the other six, and the Master Emerald, are in the hands of Robotnik," Amy finished.

"Sonic...is...back?" Tails asked. The pink hedgehog nodded, and threw Tails a weak smile.

"Can I...see him?"

"Of course you can, Tails," Amy nodded. "SONIC!" she called, exiting the room.

* * *

A few minutes later, another figure was standing in the doorway, alone.

"Hiya, buddy," the cocky voice of Sonic the hedgehog sounded.

"S-S..." Tails stuttered, standing up. Sonic took this time, as an opportunity to look at Tails.

The last time he saw his best friend, the fox was when he was a cute, small, eight year old. Now, he was a sixteen year old, man. Tails stood about two inches shorter than Sonic. If even possible, his fur was a darker shade of honey. The foxes' bangs we slightly longer. His aqua eyes, however, remained exactly the same.

"Sonic!" Tails cried. He ran up to Sonic, and hugged him.

"Not so tightly, little buddy! I can't breathe!" Sonic laughed. Tails let go, and looked up at him.

"Y-you were gone," Tails wailed. "My only brother -sniff- was gone!"

"I know... It didn't feel like eight years to me, though. It felt like a couple of minutes..." Sonic frowned.

"Well, you're lucky then..."

"Do you know where Uncle Chuck is? We didn't see him while we were at Prison Island, so we thought that you may know."

"Sonic... I, um... Well... there's no easy way to tell you, uh, this...but, um..."

"What is it, Tails?" Sonic asked, uncrossing his arms. Tears started to well up in the golden kitsune's eyes.

"He was robotized a few months back..."

"So we'll just de-robotize him-"

"No! We can't... We don't have the de-robotizer anymore..." Tails sighed.

"Well... you'll have to build one for us, then," Sonic said, clapping Tails' shoulder.

"M-me?" Tails gasped. "I don't even know how to begin to start making a de-robotizer!"

"You're a smart kid-... I mean man... You'll figure it out," Sonic grinned, flashing his signature thumbs up. Tails couldn't help but grin back.

"Well, I'd better start working on it!" the twin-tailed fox said, his hand on the doorknob.

"Before you go... Is there any particular reason why Cream stormed out of the house, both blushing and crying at the same time?" Sonic asked, one eyebrow raised. This caused Tails to blush and shake his head frantically.

"Uh, n-nothing happened, Sonic," Tails stuttered. Sonic grinned and clapped Tails' shoulder.

"Alright, buddy! Score!" Sonic howled, hooting with laughter.

"Hey! What about you and Amy, huh?" Tails fired back. That shut the cobalt hedgehog up.

"You still have a crush on her?" Tails smirked, glad that he was winning.

"No!"

"So you admit that you did have a crush on her?" the kitsune smiled, slyly.

"No! I mean, she's Amy," Sonic said, crossing his arms.

"Whatever. Just know this: I want to be the best man. Not Knuckles. Me." That comment earned the teen fox a slap to the head.

"Breakfast is ready!" Amy's feminine voice called.

"Hungry?" Sonic asked his best friend.

"Starved."

* * *

_(With Rouge And Metal Knuckles In Prison Island...)_

"Ugh!"

"ANNIHILATE-ROUGE-THE-BAT!" Knuckles roared, punching Rouge in the face, knocking her backwards.

"Well, I certainly don't know why I still like you, Knuckie. You've never had much charm, you stupid echidna!" Rouge spat, getting up. She was hurt pretty badly, as she had wounds everywhere.

"And you never, ever, touch my face again..." she growled. The bat was losing her patience.

"DON'T-LIE-TO-ME-ROUGE! YOU-ONLY-ADVANCE-ON-ME-FOR-ONE-THING! THE-MASTER-EMERALD! YOU-STOLE-IT-FROM-ME!"  
"Stole it from you...? Stole it from you?! I didn't fucking steal your goddamn master emerald! I CARE ABOUT YOU!" Rouge screamed.

"THE-GREAT-IVO-ROBOTNIK-INFORMED-ME-THAT-YOU-DID!" 

"WELL HE LIED, KNUCKLEHEAD! THIS IS WHY YOU ARE A ROBOT, STUPID! HE LIED! HE'S A LIAR!" the bat screeched.

Knuckles was silent for a moment.

"I-HAVE-NOTHING-MORE-TO-SAY..." Rouge had angry tears streaming down her cheeks.

"So this is how it ends, huh?" she questioned. "No. The past eight years... I never lost hope... And I sure as hell won't be starting now. Sonic and Foxboy will find a way to fix you... I'll see you soon... Knuckles..." Rouge said, taking off.

The robotic Knuckles, reached an arm towards her retreating figure, but did nothing to stop her. He watched sadly, well, as sad as a robot could be, as his biggest rival, and friend, flew away.

* * *

_(Back At Uncle Chuck's House...)_

After breakfast, Amy, Sonic, Tikal, Shadow and Tails, sat in the living room, discussing Shadow's chaos emerald.

"So if you have the green one, we only need six more!" Sonic concluded.

"I thought we established that already, faker," Shadow sneered. Tikal grabbed his arm gently.

"I love how we treat each other," Sonic smiled sarcastically. Everybody except the two male hedgehogs, sweat-dropped.

"Anyways... Do you and the freedom fighters know where any of the remaining six are being held?" Tails asked.

"Not a clue..." Amy sighed. "We had no way to know. We haven't had much luck with technology..."

"Well then I'd better get started on some new projects!" Tails grinned. "I'll have a bunch of stuff done by tomorrow. Why don't you guys take a break for today. Yesterday was an emotional pull for everybody."

"But, Tails-"

"No. Come on guys. Even our heroes deserve a break sometimes," the two-tailed fox grinned.

"Sounds like a plan to me. I need some relaxation time, anyways," Sonic grinned, closing his eyes, and putting his hands behind his head.

"Let's go upstairs, Shadow," Tikal suggested, pulling Shadow off the couch by his hand. Shadow 'hpmh-ed', but complied. Tails bid farewell to both Sonic and Amy, and headed down to the basement to get started on inventing new tools.

Sonic and Amy, were alone.

"What's up, Ames?" Sonic questioned, wondering why she wasn't filling his head with her usual, optimistic chatter.

"I'm worried about Rouge..." Sonic snorted, which made his sakura friend fill with anger.

"If you don't remember, I was alone, Sonic," she said through clenched teeth. "Nobody is safe anymore."

"Rouge can handle Knucklehead-"

"He's NOT Knuckles anymore, Sonic! Get it through your head! We are all in danger and nobody can save us!" Tears began to stream down Amy's face. Sonic took Amy's cheeks in his hands.

"I'm here, now. Everything's gonna be okay, Amy." She shook her head at him.

_Boy, Amy must be cut pretty deeply... _Sonic thought, frowning.

"How can I make you believe that I'm really here?" Sonic asked her.

"Kiss me, love me, hold me," Amy said, crawling onto his lap. Sonic sweat-dropped, and blushed at their position.

"Amy, you're a kid-"

"No! I'm _twenty_! I become leader of the freedom fighters and I'm still a kid? I am not..." she cried into his neck.

"I...can't..." Sonic muttered.

"I want you, though. I want you now," Amy sobbed.

"Out here. On the couch. Where anybody could walk in?" Sonic questioned, grinning. Amy nodded.

"Amy, come on now..." Sonic said, trying to hold back laughter.

"I'm being completely serious!" she hiccuped.

"No, Ames. I'm sorry," Sonic said, biting his lip to keep from smiling.

"So now you're laughing at me?" Amy asked, her temper rising. Sonic stopped laughing immediately.

"N-no, Amy."

"You love doing that to me, huh?" Amy said, her voice cracking.

"Come on, now. That's exactly what I don't want to do. If I do something so serious with you, and then, die, you'd be in worse shape than before," Sonic said.

"You're wrong," she said, getting up.

"Amy. Let's hang out today. Just us two, okay?" Sonic asked.

"Okay," she smiled weakly.

"What do you want to do?" Sonic asked her.

"There's not much to do, as Robotnik has destroyed practically everything, but there is one place, that is still beautiful."

"Really? Where is it?"

* * *

_(In The Guest Bedroom With Shadow And Tikal...)_

The duo sat on the bed, legs crossed, staring at each other.

"So are you going to keep staring at me?" Shadow snapped. Tikal flinched and looked away.

"I...I'm sorry. It's just that your eyes... are so pretty," she muttered. Shadow's eyes widened in shock. He looked at her like she was crazy.

"They're like two beautiful rubies," she continued.

"That's weird, because people usually are fearful of my eyes..."

"I was, too, at first, but then I realized, that I have nothing to be afraid of," Tikal smiled.

"I could still kill you," Shadow said, not amused.

"But you won't. You don't dislike me as much as you'd like to think. You wouldn't be here with me if you hated me." Shadow said nothing in response.

"I like you, too, Shady," Tikal smiled.

"I never said I liked you. I just don't hate you-"

"What if somebody killed me, and I died, and those were your last words to me?" Tikal interrupted him.

"You wouldn't die," Shadow said quietly.

"And why would I not?" Tikal asked, her eyes narrowing in confusion.

"Because...they'd be dead before they could touch you," Shadow said, ending the conversation. That sent a shiver up Tikal's spine.

"Would you like to watch a movie with me?" the Shadow asked after a while. Tikal nodded.

* * *

As Tikal fumbled with the DVD player in the bedroom, Shadow watched in amusement.

"Let me help you," he offered.

"No. I can do it," Tikal said, with much determination. Shadow nodded.

_She's definitely not like Amy, who needed help with everything when she was this age..._ Shadow thought.

"I figured it out!" Tikal grinned. She turned on the TV.

The screen displayed: DISC CAN NOT BE READ.

Her grin disappeared, and she bowed her head in disappointment. Shadow jumped off the bed, and was by her side in a second.

"You probably put the disc in backwards," he said, his voice not as gruff as it usually was when she messed up. "Not a big deal," he said, opening the DVD player, and flipping the disc.

"I know nothing of this technology," she sighed.

"You'll get it," he said, putting his hands behind his head. Soon, he felt a pair of arms around his waist, and Tikal's face in his white, fluffy chest.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"Get off."

* * *

_(With Sonic And Amy...)_

"Can I open my eyes now, Amy?" an annoyed Sonic asked. He'd been walking around, with Amy's hands on his eyes, for about twenty minutes.

"We're here!" Amy enthused, her optimistic tone back, full-fledged. She took her gloved hands off his eyes, and stood by his side.

"Woah..." Sonic muttered. They were in the forest somewhere. There was a pine green field that held pearl white flowers. There were cherry blossom trees that surrounded the area, to give the scene a Chun-nan type of look.

"It's the only place Robotnik didn't destroy... But it's scheduled for demolition pretty soon..." Amy sighed in frustration. Sonic took her chin, and moved a quill out of her face.

"Stop frowning," he said. It wasn't really a request, but a demand. Amy blushed, but nodded.

"You're right," she smiled.

"I know I am," Sonic grinned, cockily. Amy rolled her eyes, and punched his arm, playfully.

"You shouldn't have done that," Sonic said, trying to look menacing. He ran at Amy full force and they both fell to the ground, with him on top of her.

"Okay, okay! I give," she giggled. Sonic loosened his grip on her, slightly, and she used her abnormal amount of strength to flip him onto his back, so that she, was now on top of him.

"Never believe the enemy," she whispered.

"Okay," Sonic said, his lips touching her ear, causing shivers to run down her spine. He then, thought of an escape plan. He took her cheeks in his hands and leaned forward, as if to kiss her. She fell for it, and leaned in, too. He then, flipped her onto her back.

"Never fall for seduction," he grinned, triumphantly. She pouted.

"That would never work with anyone else," she said, crossing her arms.

"Well... for your efforts, and because I'm being generous..." he trailed off as he leaned forward, to kiss her cheek. It was only for about half a second, but it was the best thing Amy had ever felt.

She touched her hand to her cheek. Then, in a split second, she threw her arms around Sonic's neck, and hugged him.

"Woah, Amy! Not that hard!" Sonic gasped, laughing at her reaction.

"I love you, I love you!" Amy said, as if she was five years old again. Sonic unwrapped her arms, and laid his head in her lap.

The duo sat like this, for the rest of the day.

* * *

_(With Dr. Robotnik/Eggman...)_

"What is it 133-Phi?" the evil genius inquired.

"PRISONER-008-HAS-ESCAPED!" the robotic voice of 133-Phi informed.

"...008...Tails! TAILS! HOW DID MILES PROWER ESCAPE?!" the fat man screeched.

"WE-DO-NOT-KNOW, YOUR-UGLINESS! ALL-CAMERAS-WERE-CUT-OFF!"

"Those GODDAMN Freedom Fighters of New Robotropolis!" Dr. Eggman cursed.

"PRESUMABLY-IT-WAS-THEM!" 133-Phi sighted.

"Well OF COURSE IT WAS THEM, STUPID!" Robotnik yelled.

_But why now... I think I'll pay those little pests a visit tomorrow..._

* * *

**How about Knuckles and Rouge though 8). hehehe. Woah, Cream is being weird, af... Lol. Um, well... Tails is back! I missed him! Wonder what kind of cool stuff he's inventing! Oh, and so you're not confused, here are the *important* character ages:**

**Sonic: 15, now 23**

**Amy: 12, now 20**

**Tails: 8, now 16**

**Cream: 6, now 14**

**Sally: 17, now 25**

**Tikal: 14, still 14; will stay the appearance of 14 *4000***

**Shadow: Immortal, will look about the age of 18? However old Shadow looks in the games, I guess.**

**Knuckles: 18, now 26**

**Rouge: 18, now 26**

**Robotnik: However old you'd like him to be as his age is disputed. **

**Anyways, please Review. PM me questions.**

**Oh, and a shoutout to Starfiction123: **

***I am beginning your request very, very soon. I swear. I was a little busy over the past few weeks, but I am still planning it out. It'll be up soon:)***

**See you next time for chapter 16! Have a nice day!:)**


	16. Chemical Plant: Fighting Fiona Fox

**Hey, readers! How are you guys? Well, here I am, back with an update. Five days... What's happening? xD. Okay. Let's begin some recap:**

**Sonic and Amy: Not dating**

**Shadow and Tikal: Not dating**

**How many emeralds do the Freedom Fighters have? One.**

**-Shadow's Green one (Note: the other six are in Robotnik's clutches)**

**Alright. You know the drill Review or PM me questions/reviews. Hope you enjoy:)**

* * *

**-Normal POV-**

_(At Uncle Chuck's The Next Morning...)_

Shadow woke up, in the guest bedroom, with Tikal strewn over his chest. The ebony hedgehog yawned, and got up, being careful enough to not wake her. The echidna girl was wearing a baby blue nightdress that went to her upper thighs, whereas Shadow, sported the typical nothing, though he did, in fact, still have his gloves and socks on.

_What happened last night...?_ he wondered, as he was still a bit hazy.

* * *

_As Tikal and Shadow were watching the original, Chao In Space, Shadow was studying Tikal. Her movements, her emotions, her face...even her body._

_"What?" Tikal asked, after noticing her staring at him._

_"Well, there's no point in lying, so I will flat out tell you the truth... You are very attractive..." Shadow said, his voice not holding one ounce of happiness. Tikal blushed lightly._

_"T-thank you," she stuttered. The two lapsed back into a silence._

_A few minutes later, Shadow felt fingers at the tips of his. _

_"Do you mind?" Tikal asked, as she tried to hold his right hand._

_"Yes, actually," he snapped._

_"Um..." the echidna girl muttered. "I thought... you'd want me to..."_

_"Well, I don't."_

_"Why can't I touch you?" Tikal asked, defensively._

_"Because- What the hell are you doing?!" Shadow gasped. Tikal had rolled over onto Shadow and was now sitting upright on his lap._

_"Well, I like you, and I believe you like me more than you let on..."_

_"What makes you think that?" Shadow shouted._

_"You called me attractive..." Tikal smiled at him._

_"Well, that was a fact. Ask anybody, and they'd answer that too. I don't have time to mess around with you," Shadow said, gently, but firmly shoving Tikal off of him._

_"Well, I think you're attractive yourself, Shady," Tikal smiled, showing off her pearly white teeth. The two then turned back to the movie._

_A little while later, Shadow looked over to Tikal, and saw her crying. _

_"What is it?" Shadow asked, his voice sounding more sincere than he'd hoped. Tikal shook her head._

_"You wouldn't -sniff- understand," Tikal bawled. Shadow scoffed._

_"I'm trying to be more open-minded."_

_"Well, these chao, are trying to save the world from the alien space creatures, and some of them want to go to war, while the others, want to be peaceful... And it's heartbreaking!" she sobbed._

_Are you kidding me? Shadow thought, annoyed._

_"It's just a movie-"_

_"NO IT'S NOT!" Tikal screeched._

_"Will you shut the hell up? You're going to wake the entire neighborhood up, and SWATbots will come," Shadow shushed her._

_"This was life, everyday for me, Shadow..." Tikal sighed, the tears stopping._

_"What do you mean?" Shadow asked, his ears perking up a bit._

_"My father, was once a kind-hearted man, who knew what the meaning of love was. When I was a young child, a war took place. My people won, and gained all the land that was left from the peoples we had beat. That meant, kicking thousands of women and children from the other village, to the side, with no food, no water._

_"My grandmother, taught me most things. She taught me how to love, how to care...morals... After that war, my father, became overcome by greed, and thirsty for blood. My grandmother, of course, disapproved... As did I._

_"After a while, my father and I's disputes became more frequent... He lost love for me... But I still loved him. I was hoping the father that I once knew would come back... But it didn't happen._

_"My father, Chief Pachacamac of the Echidna Tribes, brainwashed our people to enjoy fighting... to have a thirst for blood... to crave pain... We fought more wars, won more land, became more powerful..._

_"After my grandmother died, life became harder... My father's resentment for me grew... Then came the last day any of my people would ever see sunrise..._

_"I didn't blame our enemies for their hate towards us. They left my village in ruins. A fiery place... It was hell... Although we died, it was a relief. It was peaceful..." Tikal finished. Shadow sat, quietly._

_"And you want me to know this, why?" he asked, his voice practically silent._

_"I want to teach you how to love, like my grandmother taught me. You need to trust me..." Tikal said, slipping her hand into his. He accepted this time._

_"Okay," Shadow said, his crimson orbs, boring into her icy blue ones._

_"R-really?" Tikal asked, not sure if she was hearing right._

_"Yes."_

_"May I ask why?" Tikal questioned._

_"You understand, being betrayed..." Shadow trailed off. Tikal nodded._

_"So are we friends now?" she asked in a small voice._

_"I guess," Shadow shrugged. Tikal squealed with joy and jumped in his arms._

_"Get off!" Shadow snapped. _

_"No!" Tikal giggled, holding on tighter._

* * *

And that was all he could remember. He smiled a small smile at the sleeping girl, and went into the bathroom to shower.

* * *

When he came out, he saw Tikal, in the bedroom sitting on her knees, praying.

"What are you doing?" he asked. His voice made her jump, and she turned to face him. Her muzzle immediately turned red, due to his attire: He was wet, and had a white towel wrapped around his waist.

"What?" he asked the drooling teen.

"Uh... um... what?" she asked, snapping out of it.

"Are you going to answer my question or not, airhead? What are you doing?" Shadow asked.

"I was, praying to Chaos," Tikal answered simply.

"Why?" Shadow asked, opening up a compartment in the dresser.

"I just want him to help us, by protecting the master emerald from anything Dr. Robotnik tries to do. By now, the Doctor probably knows that you have returned to our side," Tikal answered. Shadow pulled on a pair of sweatpants and walked over to Tikal, helping her off the floor.

"Get changed. Knowing Foxboy, he's probably found at least two of the remaining emeralds already," Shadow said.

"Alright. Turnaround." Shadow complied to her request.

"Okay. You can face me again," her voice rang out. Shadow turned to see her in a white T-shirt and light wash shorts.

"SHADOW! TIKAL! WAKE UP!" Amy called from downstairs.

* * *

"What were you two doing?" Sonic asked Shadow and Tikal, skeptically.

"Nothing-"

"Changing," Tikal interrupted. Sonic and Tails started to laugh and Shadow growled.

"Shut up," he glared.

"What's so funny?" Tikal asked, making the two best friends laugh even more.

"Leave them alone," Amy scolded, coming over to where everybody else.

"Fine!" Sonic said in a mock annoyed voice. He then pulled Amy onto his lap and whispered something in her ear, causing her to giggle, and smack him playfully.

"Okay. So I stayed up really late last night, building an emerald tracking device. I already have the first emerald located," Tails confirmed.

"Well, where is it?" Shadow asked.

"The Chemical Plant..." Tails muttered. Sonic groaned.

"That place again? Seriously?" the cobalt hero sulked. Tails nodded.

"When are we leaving?" Shadow asked.

"How about now?" Tails suggested.

"We first have to stop by Cream's house. She'd want to come," Amy informed.

* * *

_(At Cream's House...)_

_Knock, knock! _

"Coming, Ms. Amy," Cream's polite voice sounded. The door opened, revealing a rabbit in a tangerine colored tank top and tan shorts.

"Hi, Cream! You ready to go?" Amy asked her best friend.

"Can you come in for a minute?" she asked. "Alone?"

"Um, sure," Amy said, turning to the others. "We'll meet you guys at HQ in a few minutes."

"What do you need, Cream?" Amy asked.

"It's not me, so much as Rouge..." Cream frowned.

"Rouge?" Amy asked, confused. The rabbit nodded, and led Amy into the living room. Rouge was sitting on the couch, her knees to her chest, her arms wrapped around them.

"Hey, Rouge," Amy said, still not sure what was going on.

"Pinky..." Rouge muttered.

"What's...what's wrong?" Amy asked.

"Did you know that Knuckles hates me?" Rouge demanded.

"He doesn't hate you. Where'd ya get that impression?" the sakura hedgehog inquired.

"He told me yesterday on Prison Island."  
"People say things that they don't mean, Rouge... And Robotnik probably messed with his mind," Amy reasoned.

"Where are you guys going?" Rouge asked, an abrupt change of subject.

"We're finding the first chaos emerald. Tails made a tracking device, to help us locate them. The first one is in the heart of Dr. Eggman's main chemical plant," Amy explained.

"I'm coming with you," Rouge said.

"Okay. Let's leave now guys," Cream added.

* * *

_(Outside Of The Chemical Plant...)_

"Alright guys, here's the plan... Shadow, Rouge and Tikal will go and collect as much information about Robotnik's plans and whereabouts as possible, while Tails and Cream track the emerald. Sonic and I will rescue as many of the captive, un-robotized Mobians, that we can. Any questions?" Amy asked, tossing a flash drive over to Rouge.

"Yeah. Why do you always get to go with Sonic?" Tails grumbled.

"Alright, let's go." The team of seven split up, to do their orders.

* * *

_(With Tails and Cream...)_

They had been walking in an uncomfortable silence, for about ten minutes. Tails couldn't take it anymore.

"Cream, I'm sorry-"

"Don't. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that... It wasn't...your fault," she managed.

"I shouldn't have promised you something like that... It is my fault. I never meant to hurt you in any way..." Tails muttered.

"I just.. missed you so much," Cream said, crushing Tails in a hug.

"I missed you, too, Cream," Tails muttered, hugging her back.

"Look who it is! I thought Mr. Fox was still crushing on me. Guess I was wrong," an evilly, seductive voice rang out.

"Fiona?" Tails gasped, turning to see the auburn colored female fox, standing, with her hands on her waist. She would be considered pretty, if her attitude and alignment were polar opposite.

"Miss me, Tails?" she winked.

"What do you want?" Cream asked- well...demanded... Her voice held not one ounce of it's usual politeness.

"Ooh, someone's a bit touchy..." the female fox smirked, looking Cream up and down. "But I'm here to get rid of you, especially, foxboy... Since I know you're after this!" Fiona held up a yellow chaos emerald.

"Cream, get out of here," Tails whispered, his aqua eyes narrowing in on Fiona's icy blue ones.

"No! I'm not leaving you-!"

"NOW!" Tails commanded. "Find Sonic and Amy!"

Fiona's eyes lit up.

"Sonic is here? I thought... Well, I'll pay him a visit when I'm through with you..." Fiona smirked.

"Leave, Cream!" Tails snapped. The teen rabbit nodded, and ran as fast as she could, to go find Sonic and Amy.

* * *

_(With Shadow, Tikal & Rouge...)_

"I know where to go," Shadow said to nobody in particular. The trio was deep into the plant, trying to find a control room, so that Rouge could hack into the computer system to get the dirt on the evil dictator.

"Over this way," Shadow mumbled, walking over to the door on his left. He pulled out a card, and scanned it, so the door would open.

"ACCESS-ACCEPTED!" a robotic voice rang out. The group of three walked in.

"I'll stand guard," Shadow said, walking over to the door.

"So..." Rouge said low enough for only Tikal to hear, or... so she thought. "Do you like Shadow?"

"Yes," Tikal nodded. "He's my best friend... Well, besides Chaos and chao." Rouge stifled laughter at the echidna girl's misunderstanding.

"No... I mean, do you_ like_ him?" Rouge smirked, putting extra emphasis on the 'like' part. Tikal was about to answer when Shadow stepped in.

"Tikal. You don't have to answer that," Shadow said in a stiff voice, glaring at Rouge.

"But I do!" Tikal said, smiling at Shadow. The black hedgehog raised an eyebrow, and turned back to the door.

"Hurry up, Rouge. We haven't got all day," Shadow snapped.

"Did I say something?" Tikal asked, her sapphire eyes confused.

"No. He just isn't used to having your affection," Rouge sighed, with sadness.

"Hurry up! I sense danger!" Shadow's gruff voice warned.

I've already used Kintobar... I've got it! the ivory bat thought.

"3-0-0..." Rouge muttered putting in the password. As she looked over the screen, she typed something.

"Hurry it up!"

"Look at the screen, Shads! It says to wait!" Rouge fired back. In the hallway, Rouge and Tikal could hear Shadow taking apart mechs.

"It's done!" Rouge said, ripping the flash drive out of slot. She then grabbed Tikal's wrist, and lifted the teen into her arms.

"Let's go, now!" Shadow screeched. Rouge flew out of the control room, with Tikal in her arms. Shadow fought off the many mechs (none were robotized freedom fighters; only woodland creatures) and Tikal watched, in horror. Her eyes were so wide, they felt like they could never be shut. This was not the Shadow she was with the other night. She felt nauseous. She didn't even want to look at him. He was too busy, saving their lives, to even notice Tikal's expression. She had never truly felt this feeling before, until now.

Fear.

* * *

_(With Sonic And Amy...)_

"Ames... I think we have a ways to go. I'm gonna run," Sonic whispered. Was he going to leave her?

"Alright. Be safe-"

"What? You think I'm gonna leave you behind and make you miss out on the fun? I don't think so! Jump on the Sonic Express," he grinned, holding out his arms for her. She blushed and got into his arms.

Her weight was a bit heavier than when Sonic first came back.

_Good thing she's gained some weight. She had me worried there, for a minute..._ Sonic thought.

"Hold on tight, Amy," Sonic whispered into her ear. She nodded and wrapped her arms around his neck.

The cobalt hero, then, took off, causing a sonic boom.

* * *

One word to describe the Chemical Plant: Polluted. There was charcoal colored smoke coming out of chimneys, blue goo-ish like substances shooting out from walls, and floors, and don't even get me started, about the 'pink water', that was underneath the blue and yellow platforms. It smelled very heavily of rotten apples. If it wasn't for Sonic smelling so outdoorsy and earthy, Amy would've passed out.

"What is that?" the rosy hedgehog pointed to the magenta liquid.

"Chemicals. Dr. Robotnik uses it as vapor for the robotizer. It takes a lot of pollution to make this stuff... That's why the skies are black," Sonic explained, bitterly.

* * *

Soon, Sonic came to a halt. The duo were in front of a large, iron door.

"Huh..." Sonic muttered. On the door there was a sign that said, 'DO NOT ENTER! THIS MEANS YOU, YOU FILTHY FREEDOM FIGHTERS!'  
"You up for an adventure?" Sonic asked his female, hedgehog counterpart.

"I thought you'd never asked," Amy said, tugging her glove on her right hand. Sonic smirked, an turned back to the door.

"Even if this door's unlocked, for reasons unknown, we can't just waltz in, so we're gonna have to climb through the air vent," Sonic said, pointing to the opening. He curled himself up into a ball and homing attacked the vent. The opening fell off, and landed onto the floor.

"I'll lift you up, and then jump up, okay?" Sonic asked. Amy nodded as Sonic hoisted her up onto his shoulders (A/N: What Shoulders xD). She slid into the vent, and waited for Sonic.

"Alright," her blue crush said as he hopped up into the air vent, "See that air vent on the bottom? Let's look through that. We can see if it's safe..."

The two crawled over to the other air vent. They saw about four SWATbots and about twenty civilians.

"No! Please don't do this! I have children and a wife at home that need feeding! I- They need a father and husband!" a man cried.

"SHUT-UP!" one of the mechs commanded.

"Watch out!" Sonic warned his partner. He spindashed the vent and jumped through it into the other room. Amy followed his lead, landing next to him.

"Hello everyone. Good afternoon. You'll all be going home, very shortly. Amy and I are here to rescue you. It won't take long," Sonic winked at the Mobians that were in cages.

"What?!" one asked in shock.

"Is that-?"

"Could it really be...?"

"...Sonic the Hedgehog?"

"Alright. Ames, you still have your hammer, right?" Sonic asked, dodging a projectile.

"Of course but-"

"Get those people out of there and I'll take care of these lame-o's," Sonic grinned.

"I don't use it anymore, though," Amy said, still talking about her infamous Piko Piko hammer.

"Well you need to!" Sonic said, taking out a SWATbot.

_He doesn't understand..._ Amy thought, frustrated. She walked over to the cage, and held onto two of the bars. She then, pulled them, using her inhuman strength, and made an opening. Sonic took out the last of Eggman's badniks, and turned to Amy. His jaw dropped when he saw what she did with the bars.

"SONIC! AMY!" a high pitched voice shrieked.

"Cream?" Amy gasped. "What is it? Where's Tails?"

"Fiona -pant- found us -pant- and is -pant- attacking!" an out of breath Cream panted.

"Where is he?!" Sonic asked.

"In Sector M!" Cream cried.

"Alright. You take care of these people. Take 'em back to the X-Tornado. Amy help her, and I'll go help Tails," Sonic said, turning on his heel. Cream started to get the people out. Amy grabbed Sonic's wrist.

"What is it, Ames?" Sonic asked, frantically. Her pine green orbs bored into his peridot ones.

"Be... careful," she said.

"I will, Amy," Sonic promised.

"I can't lose you, again," Amy said, hugging Sonic.

"You won't Amy." Sonic closed his eyes. He soon felt a pair of warm lips touch his cheek. They left too quick, even for Sonic, but he knew he had a job to do.

"I'll see you soon, Emi," Sonic whispered her name in Japanese. Amy nodded, and went to help Cream with the civilians. Sonic touched a few fingers to his cheek, where she had kissed him. He then, sped off, to find Tails.

* * *

"Alright! Enough messing around, mister! Throw another one of your dummy ring bombs, and I will smack you harder than last time!" Fiona threatened.

"If I were you, I'd back off, Fiona," a cocky voice rang out.

"Sonic!" Tails cried with glee.

"Hey, Big Blue. Long time, no see... And my, my... you're sexier than ever," Fiona said, seductively, biting her lip.

"What are you doing, Fiona? You might as well leave. This won't end well..." Sonic said, clenching his teeth.

"Are you single?" Fiona asked, ignoring his warning. Sonic said nothing. "Good. So let's see, Sally dumped you, you rejected Mina... and I'll bet you finally got rid of that pink brat," Fiona cackled. Sonic was about to say something, but Fiona continued.

"Or did she grow tired of you, too?" the female fox asked, slyly.

"She... Is about to kick your ass!" an angered voice echoed. Tails, Fiona and Sonic turned to face Amy Rose, and Cream the Rabbit, standing back to back.

Amy, having enough of Fiona's bullshit, ran over to her, so fast, that only Sonic could see her. She punched Fiona, square in the jaw, causing the leather wearing fox, to fall onto her back.

"AGH!" Fiona cried in pain. Amy grabbed the yellow emerald, and tossed it to Tails.

"Now leave us alone," Amy growled. Fiona got up, and ran away, but murmured something to her wrist communicator, that was unintelligible to the others.

"That was great, Amy!" Sonic grinned, wrapping his arm around Amy.

"How'd you get so strong?" Tails questioned. Amy frowned.

"It took a lot of work..."

"Well, we'd better get going," Cream threw into the conversation.

"Wait! Where are the Mobians?" Sonic asked.

"Hanging outside with Shadow Rouge, and Tikal," Amy said.

"You guys go ahead. I wanna talk with Amy a minute. Tell the others that we'll be out soon," Sonic said. Tails and Cream nodded, and walked together.

"What?" Amy asked.

"I'm done."

"What do you mean?" Amy questioned, not liking his vague tone of voice.

"I'm just done. It's like I can't even pretend that I don't like you anymore. I don't know what's going on..." Amy put a hand on his arm.

"You can't explain it... That's okay... I can't either..." Amy comforted him. "We'll figure it out..." Amy said, stroking his cheek. Sonic was blushing at her touch, but still smiled his goofy grin. He then dropped his grin, when he felt the urge to lean forward. Amy caught on to what he was doing. Her face heated up as he leaned in. Their eyes were still halfway open as they leaned closer. As soon as their noses were touching...

"WILL YOU TWO HURRY IT UP?!" an annoyed Rouge called. Sonic rolled his eyes and huffed in annoyance, as Amy growled. Sonic picked up Amy in his lanky, apricot arms, and took off, causing one of his famous sonic booms, leaving only a blue streak behind.

* * *

_(Back At Uncle Chuck's House...)_

"Rouge, you can have Uncle Chuck's bedroom," Sonic offered, as he and Amy shared his room, and as Shadow and Tikal shared the guest bedroom.

"Alright. Thanks, handsome. See you all tomorrow," Rouge said yawning. She flew up the stairs.

* * *

Upstairs, Tikal entered her shared bedroom with Shadow.

"What's bothering you?" Shadow asked, as she had not said anything to him, or anyone, since the Chemical Plant.

"N-nothing..." she stuttered. His crimson orbs penetrated her aqua ones.

"Are you...scared?" he asked. Tikal frowned and started to cry. Shadow was by her side in an instance. He took her face in his gloved hands.

"Shh... Don't be scared of me... I was protecting us... I don't do it for fun, Tikal... I had to save you," Shadow said, wiping her tearstained face with his thumbs. Tikal nodded.

"Shadow..." Tikal cried into his iceberg white fur.

"I'm sorry that I upset you," Shadow murmured.

"It's okay, Shady..." Tikal said, kissing his cheek. His face violently red, as he blushed from her kiss. They both laid down on the bed, and Tikal fell asleep in his arms.

_I vow to never upset you again, Tikal..._ Shadow thought, before he drifted off into a deep slumber.

* * *

**So... thoughts? Cream and Tails are A-Okay now...**

**Shadow and Tikal have the most complicated relationship (Note: They're not together) Ever.**

**Sonic said what? He never actually said anything, so do y'all know what that means? It means in a portion of the Next chapter, we get to view his thoughts:))) 1st Person POV, baby.**

**No. I did not forget about Dr. Robotnik/Eggman. He was supposed to visit New Mobotropolis/Robotropolis today (in the story) and will tell his experience with it, next chapter. **

**Um, I still haven't decided if I'm going to get Sonic and Amy together in this story, so let me know what 'The People' want in your review. **

**I hope you enjoyed Chapter 16 of ****_Heroes Of Mobius_****. Have a nice day!:)**

**BTW: The Freedom Fighters have the yellow and green chaos emeralds now:) Four more to go! Five if you include the Master Emerald.**


	17. Abduction At The Casino: Scrouge Is Back

**Hey, guys. Been a while. I've been busy playing ****_The Sims_****. That's right. Simmer in the house. Oh and guess what?! I beat _Sonic Adventure: DX_ for the first time ever ^.^ In case you didn't know, I don't really like that game... OMG The battle with Perfect Chaos was easy AF! Rofl, ****_Anyways_****...**

**I like this chapter. It ends on a cliffhanger ^.^ **

**I mean, if I don't end it there, it'd be wayyy to long. **

**This chapter is Sexual, and next chapter is Sexual. That's why it's rated T. No lemons, but it may get intense for a few of you. Especially next chapter... O_O This chapter was actually redone once for you guys, because I thought it may be a bit Too intense. Let me know if you can only handle so much. I can put warnings throughout this story, but I think most of you guys are okay with it... I hope, rofl.**

**We have quite a few guest appearances in this chapter.**

**THE DESTRUCTIX:**

**-Scrouge The Hedgehog, Fiona Fox, Sgt. Simian, Predator Hawk, Flying Frog, Lightning Lynx, Sleuth Dawg, Drago Wolf, Kodos Lion, Uma Arachnis, Snively Robotnik, & Nack The Weasel, all appear in this chapter. They are the Twelve Aristocrats, people.**

**Y'all know the drill. PM me questions/concerns, and waste two minutes of your life to review please.**

**Hope you enjoy Chapter 17!**

* * *

**-Normal POV-**

_(At Uncle Chuck's House...)_

The clock read about half past nine. Sonic looked over at Amy's sleeping figure, as she laid across his chest. He couldn't believe what they almost did...

* * *

_Sonic laid on the bed, waiting for Amy to come out of the bathroom. He was pretty tired, but he still wanted to say goodnight... and he was positively sure, that Amy was gonna wanna talk. She came out, wearing a short, white bathrobe._

_"We need to talk," Amy said. Sonic sighed mentally, but nodded._

I knew it_, he thought._

_"About what?" he asked, playing dumb._

_"About us... You said you liked me," Amy said in frustration, crossing your arms._

_"That, I do," Sonic flashed her a grin._

_"Why now?" Amy asked. This caught the cobalt hero off guard._

_"Well... I know what I did to you was... well, tough... But now, I need you more than I ever have before. I want to... tell you how I feel..." Sonic mumbled, surprised that he was even uttering the words._

_"And how is that?" Amy asked, sitting on the bed next to him._

_"Whenever I'm around you... I feel jumpy... It's not the same as when I'm with Sal, or Blaze... I mean, now, it's easier to be around you, but it's still different..." Amy entwined her fingers with Sonic's. He blushed from her contact, but continued, shakily._

_"But... for the longest time, I didn't think we could be together. You want to have a family, with kids... And I want to have adventure..." Sonic said, closing his eyes._

_"But... I'd give that up for you... I want you," Amy said, putting a gloved hand to her blue companion's muzzle._

_"But that's the thing... I don't want for you to have to give that up! It's impossible for us to be together... The only way we could stay together, is if this war keeps up... Nobody can really settle down, and we'd always be together, fighting... But that's not what you want..." _  
_"So? It's my life, not yours-" Amy started._

_"But you don't get it! I'm not robbing you of what your life should be, Amy. I care for you far too much to do that..." Sonic asked. "I'll slow down... But there will always be a bad guy..."_

_"And you think I don't know that?" Amy asked, catching Sonic off guard, yet again. "I've accepted the way you are, and I'm okay with your lifestyle... I only wanted to marry you, so that I could have you... So that I'd have an excuse to be able to hold you, and love you..." Amy said, almost in tears._

_"But you do have me... You always did, I guess," Sonic chuckled._  
_There was silence for a moment, until Amy pounced onto Sonic. _  
_"Woah!" Sonic gasped for air. He felt something warm press against his chest._

What the heck-?! _he thought._

_He looked down to see Amy's robe open, and their bare skins touching. He couldn't help but stare. Amy saw that his attention was directed somewhere else, and followed his gaze. She blushed, cutely, and sat up on his abdomen._

_"I saw you," she said in a small voice, hiding her face with her quills._

_"Uh..." Sonic blushed, embarrassed by what he just did. She pressed her small hands on his chest._

_"It's okay," Amy smiled, taking his left hand and pressing it against different parts of her body. Sonic's eyes widened, but he took his right hand, and rubbed the back of her thigh._

_"Amy..." he muttered, stopping himself._

_"What?" she whispered back._

_"I...can't do this..." Sonic said, closing his eyes as if he was in pain. Amy nodded, but hung her head._

_"Hey," he said, lifting her chin up. "I care about you, Amy. A lot..." Amy smiled at Sonic._

_"I care about you, too, Sonic," the pink hedgehog smiled. The two, soon enough lapsed into a silence, and fell asleep._

* * *

_I... I can't believe it... I almost...didn't stop her... I didn't want to stop it from happening_, the hero thought to himself, shamefully.

He felt Amy stir in her sleep.

"Good morning," he whispered into her ear. She looked up and met his peridot orbs with her jade ones.

"Good morning," she sighed, blissfully. There was a knock on their door.

"Come in," Sonic called. In waltzed Tikal. Shadow stood by the doorway.

"Tails has called for a meeting at HQ," Tikal said.

* * *

_(With Dr. Robotnik In An Unknown Base...)_

"I can't believe that those damn freedom fighters weren't there!"

"BUT-SIR! WE-HAVEN'T-ENTIRELY-LOST!" 144-Theta pointed out.

"Yes... I know we have the Destructix helping out, but you know how their swamp colored leader is..."

* * *

_Robotnik had followed through with his plans to visit New Mobotropolis. Though, when he had arrived, there was no sign of Shadow, Tails, or any of the freedom fighters._

_The evil genius was about to give up, when he heard someone clear their throat._

_"Heh-heh. If it isn't the fat man himself," an sinister voice rang out._

_"Scrouge of the Destructix... What do you want?" Robotnik asked, turning around in his Egg Mobile._

_"I have some interesting news that you might find...worth hearing..." the olive colored hedgehog smirked._

_"And that would be...?" the egg shaped man inquired._

_"Sonic the Hedgehog, is very well alive..."_  
_"YOU LIAR! I killed him eight years ago!" Robotnik protested._

_"Better check your machinery again. He was alive. I saw him. He saved Amy Rose from me last week..." Scrouge said, his voice seething with anger._

_"B-but..."_

_"Face it, Doc. Did you really think you could win?" Scrouge howled with laughter._

_"Grr..." Eggman growled._

_"But... I can do you a favor, tubs... The Destructix and I will get you Sonic, dead or alive, whichever you prefer, if you give something me, in return," Scrouge said, fixing his leather jacket._

_"And that would be...?" Robotnik's eyes narrowed._

_"A little thing I'd like to call, money. Robbing the Aristocrats gets boring after awhile... And Fi should be living more...comfortably..."_

_"Deal. Bring me Sonic, alive, and I will give you fifty thousand rings," Eggman compromised._

_"You got it, boss."_

* * *

"True... Hopefully Scrouge can pull this off-" Eggman's memory was cut short by a auburn fox storming into his control room.

"Doctor!" Fiona breathed.

"What is it?" Eggman snapped.

"The Freedom Fighters got ahold of the yellow chaos emerald that was being held in the Chemical Plant!" Fiona panted. Robotnik's eyes narrowed at the female fox.

"Now, assuming Shadow is on their side, they have two, to my five... I still have the upperhand, but they cannot get their grubby hands on any more, do you understand?!"

"Yes, doctor..."

"Now, Fiona... Go find Scrouge in New Mobotropolis... He'll tell you and the other members of the Destructix the plan..." Eggman commanded. And with that, Fiona left Robotnik's unknown base.

"HO-HO-HO!"

* * *

_(With The Freedom Fighters In The WareHouse HQ...)_

"Alright, guys... So I've got some good news, and bad news," Tails announced, acting dramatic.

"What is it, foxboy? The anticipation is killing me," Rouge said, sarcastically. Tails ignored her snide comment, and continued.

"I know where the next chaos emerald is!" he grinned. A few people 'Woo-ed' and applauded.

"And the bad news?" Shadow asked.

"We can't all go." A few people groaned.

"Why not?" Sonic asked.

"It's at the world famous casino in Station Square," Tails answered.

"So how do we pick who's going?" Cream asked.

"That's up to the leader I guess." Everyone turned to Amy.

* * *

In the end, it was decided like this:

Amy would go, being leader of the entire operation, Sonic would go, Sally, Rouge and Shadow would also go.

"To his mechs, it'll look like we're just a group of Aristocrats who went to gamble," Amy concluded.

"Awesome. Where do you guys want to meet up?" Sonic asked.

"How about at Sonic's house at six thirty? We can then get there by seven," Sally suggested.

"Sounds like a plan," Amy grinned.

* * *

_(Back At Uncle Chuck's House...)_

Tikal, Shadow, Sonic and Amy were downstairs in the living room waiting for Cream to come by with Amy's dress and Sonic and Shadow's suits.

_Knock, knock!_

"Come in, Cream," Amy called. In flew Cream the Rabbit.

"Alright. Here you guys go," the girl said, setting the clothes down on the table. "Be careful."

"Okay. Thanks, Cream. We'll see you when we get back," Amy smiled, hugging her best friend. She then turned to Tikal.

"I'll be down soon," Amy said, taking her dress, and heading upstairs.

* * *

"And...done," Amy said, applying the last dab of mascara onto her eyelashes. She stood up, and walked over to a mirror. Amy, wore a black dress that went down to the floor, only it had a large slit that went to her middle of her right leg, showing off her toned thigh. Not to mention, it was shoulder less. She had matching black pumps to accommodate her dress, and a diamond bracelet on her left wrist.

Downstairs, the boys wore the same style suits; black pants with black shoes, and a white jacket.

Amy came downstairs to find that Rouge and Sally had arrived. Sally wore a violet halter dress, that too, went to the floor while Rouge sported a navy blue dress that went to her mid thigh.

Amy walked over to Sonic.

"You look great," she blushed at his attire.

"Y-you, too!" he said, sporting the same rosy blush.

_Great. How am I supposed to focus tonight?!_ Sonic thought to himself.

"Alright. Are we ready to go?" Sally asked.

"Yeah. I've got the X-Tornado out front," Amy replied.

"Wait!" Tikal said, coming downstairs. "Can I speak to Shadow for a moment?" Shadow stepped out of the circle and said,

"I'll be out in a minute." The others left the room.

"What is it?" Shadow asked.

"I-I don't know what I'll do if anything happens to you..." Tikal said, trying to not let any tears fall. The ebony hedgehog touched his gloved hand to her cheek.

"Don't worry; I'll be fine." Tikal nodded. Shadow turned away from her.

"Wait!" Tikal said, grabbing his arm. He turned back, to find a pair of warm lips on his. His crimson eyes widened at first, but soon, he returned the favor, closing his eyes. Tikal pulled away hesitantly.

"I'll be here for you when you get back..." she whispered. Shadow nodded, and took off, leaving only a scarlet streak behind.

* * *

_(In Station Square...)_

"Wha-what happened here?" Sonic gasped. The city that once held many skyscrapers, was now in ruins. The sky was, if even possible, more black then it was back in New Mobotropolis.

"G.U.N. tried to fight off the Doctor, but they lost... The city was destroyed in the process. Many gangs hang over here, so we're gonna have to be careful," Shadow explained.

"Alright guys. The dark blue emerald should be in the safe here," Amy said.

"Piece of cake. We should be in and out," Sonic grinned.

"That would be so... the only thing is that the safe is guarded by badniks... And if we sound off any alarms, we're dead," Shadow sighed.

"So what do we do?" Rouge asked.

"I don't think the badniks have been programmed to know that Shadow is with us now. So Shadow, will command them to evacuate from the casino," Amy began.

"Well, then we can just go to the safe and break in," Rouge said.

"That would make sense," Sally intervened, "but they still have alarms."

"Sally is correct. So, Rouge, this is where you come in. You tap into the control room and make sure that all the alarms stop working. Sally and Sonic, will then, go through the air vent, and get into the vault, while I talk to the Aristocrats, and get as much information as I can..." Amy said.

"By yourself? The Aristocrats are on Robotnik's side, so you could get hurt..." Sonic said.

"I'll be fine. And I'm setting a timer for ten minutes. After the time is up, this place," Amy motioned to the casino building, "will explode. We'll meet back at the X-Tornado. Everyone understand?"

There were no objections, so Amy spoke again.

"Good. Let's go. Try to look nonchalant."

* * *

The group of five walked up to the bouncer.

"You're not on the list," the bulldog stated, not looking up. Amy sighed in frustration, but took a step towards him. She wrapped her pale, apricot arms around his neck, making Sonic's eyes widen in jealousy.

"Come on, mister. We just wanna have a good time," Amy said, motioning towards her friends. The bulldog bouncer blushed at her sultry movements, and nodded.

"I can make an exception, I guess," he stuttered. Sonic scoffed, and Amy shot him a glare.

"Thank you," Amy whispered in the bouncer's ear. The group then, walked into the casino.

* * *

"Excuse me," Shadow muttered to a waiter badnik.

"YES-KING-SHADOW?" the mech replied, bowing.

"On orders from the doctor, I need you, and all the other badniks, to leave the premises," Shadow said in a smooth tone.

"YES-KING-SHADOW!" the robot said, turning to his friends.

"That was easy... too easy..." Shadow muttered.

* * *

Rouge had managed to get into the back of the casino, by seducing a few employees. She was now walking down hallways, to find the control room.

"Aha!" she said, approaching a door that said, 'EMPLOYEES ONLY'.

"Here comes the fun part," she grinned.

* * *

"Rouge needs to hurry up..." Sonic said, tapping his foot, impatiently. Sally rolled her eyes at him, but sighed in agreement. The timer was already set, so they only had about seven more minutes

As if on command, Rouge appeared across the room, flashing them a winky face.

"Alright, Sal. It's time to rock and roll," Sonic grinned. He grabbed Sally by the hand, and ran them into the Shower Room.

* * *

Amy, approached a group of Aristocrats. There were twelve of them, sitting at a large table, chatting amongst themselves.

"Vhat do you vant?" a lynx asked. His accent sounded suspiciously wobbly, though Amy noticed, she didn't say anything about it.

"I want to talk to you all, about the war. You see, I'm new money," the sakura hedgehog flashed a few hundred dollar bills, which were snatched by a purple weasel.

"Ahh," a swampy green hedgehog muttered. He was dressed to the ten, in a nice black suit. He had on some Aviators, so Amy couldn't see his eyes.

"The come have a seat," he said in a rustic Spanish accent. His voice was so inviting, that Amy walked over, her guard down. He pulled her onto his lap.

"So you came to talk war, eh?" he smiled. Amy blushed and nodded. She could hear a woman scoff. A familiar looking female fox, was glaring at her.

_Wait! That's-!_

She could feel the green hedgehog's grip tighten on her. She turned back to him, to see that his glasses were off, revealing icy blue orbs.

"Way to go, Fi!" the green hedgehog snarled.

"And just as things were going so well," a puny human sighed. Amy felt a needle jam into her thigh. The world, went black.

* * *

_Something eerie is going on..._ Shadow thought, crossing his arms. He felt a gloved hand on his shoulder.

"Rouge," he said, not even turning.

"You're good," Rouge said, biting her lip, in amazement.

"EVERYONE EVACUATE! THERE IS A BOMB THREAT IN THE BUILDING!" Shadow announced.

"Let's get back to the X-Tornado," the black hedgehog said, turning towards the exit. Rouge took one last look at the casino. In the corner of her eye, she saw an auburn fox.

_Is that-?_

She turned her head to where she thought she saw Fiona.

_Guess not..._

She then, followed her ebony partner, outside.

* * *

From the Shower Room, Sonic and Sally went through an air vent, to get into the safe. None of the alarms would go off, thanks to Rouge's superb technical skills.

"Alright, Sal. We're here. I'm gonna jump down, and then I'll catch you," Sonic said.

"Alright. We have to hurry. We only have two minutes," the squirrel noted.

"That's more than enough time," Sonic grinned. He then jumped out of the vent, and landed on his feet. He then, caught Sally, and set her down.

"Look! There it is, Sally!" Sonic said, pointing to the cobalt emerald. He grabbed it, and Sally pressed a button on her bracelet. A red laser came out, and she pointed it at the door to the safe. The handle to the door was now on the floor and Sonic spin dashed into it, knocking it down.

The bomb's timer showed ten seconds.

"It's juicing time, Sal!" Sonic said, pulling her into his arms, bridal style. He then, ran out of the casino.

The explosion was beautiful. Because the bright casino lights were already colorful, it made a great effect in the nighttime sky. The impact however, caused Sonic to fall forward and drop Sally. The two rolled onto their backs, and started laughing.

"Get the fuck up, Sonic!" Shadow said, his voice held a tone of fear.

"What?" Sonic asked, still laughing. He helped Sally up, and turned to Shadow.

"Where the hell is Amy?" Shadow asked. Sonic's smiled faded, and he turned to look back at the casino.

"No..." he gasped, his peridot orbs widening.

* * *

**Well then... Does that meet your guys' standards? It took about seven days to get this done, rofl. **

**If you don't understand something, ask me! I can explain. **

**I'm sorry if you think I'm bashing Scrouge's character. I really, am not, though. It'll all get straightened out later, I promise. **

**Like their accents? rofl xD**

**Oh, and BTW, they think Amy died in the explosion... **

**PM me questions/concerns, and Please REVIEW! Just do it! I will love you forever!**

**See you sometime in the not so distant future for Chapter 18! Have a nice day!:)**


	18. Saving Amy: A New Face Arrives

**Hey, people. How are y'all? BTW, thanks for over 3,000 views and 53 reviews. Anyways, this chapter is pretty short, but quite a bit of stuff happens.**

**There is a Naruto reference in here, that I will point out at the end. **

**Oh, and before I forget, here's a list of the New Mobotropolis Freedom Fighters (for this story):**

**-Amy Rose, Sonic the Hedgehog, Shadow the Hedgehog, Tikal the Echidna, Miles "Tails" Prower, Cream the Rabbit, Bunnie Rabbot, Rouge the Bat, Antoine the Coyote, Rotor Walrus, Sally Acorn, Meg & Elias Acotn, and Mina Mongoose.**

**Please Review, and enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

**-Normal POV-**

_(In Station Square...)_

Sonic and Shadow, had run the entire city, two hundred and seventy-three times, in the past half hour, searching for Amy. They had no luck. Unlike the rest of the group, who were pacing around nervously, and sporting somber looks, Sonic, had no emotion. He looked dead, as his apricot cheeks were pale, and his peridot eyes, held no luster.

"AMY!" the two would yell occasionally, getting no response in return.

"Sonic," Shadow said after awhile.

"What is it?" Sonic's voice cracked. The two jumped over a large pole that was lying horizontally on a messed up highway, and continued running.

"Amy's not here-."

"She's NOT dead," Sonic growled, cutting the ebony hedgehog off. The two lapsed back into silence.

"Sonic-"

"What?" Sonic asked through clenched teeth.

"We have to go back. Amy is not here, Sonic..." Shadow said, his eyes closing. Sonic halted.

"You go back, then. You seem to like giving up on the ones you love, anyways," the cobalt hedgehog spat.

"What the fuck are you talking about, faker?" Shadow growled.

"You let Maria just lock you into a capsule, huh? How come you're living, and not her?" Sonic taunted. Shadow's fist clenched.

"Shut up, faker! You know it wasn't like that!" the ebony hedgehog growled.

"Well, you mind is always 'manipulated' so maybe you killed her-"

"AGH!" Shadow screamed, lunging at Sonic. Shadow's right fist connected to Sonic's torso, making the blue hero fly backwards off of the highway, into the body of water below it.

_Sonic_! Shadow thought in alarm. Faker can't swim! Shadow jumped off the highway, and into the water, to save his doppelganger.

* * *

"Breathe you idiot!" an annoyed but frightened voice commanded. Shadow hand managed to save Sonic from dying, and they, as of now, were on a polluted beach, outside of where the Station Square hotel used to be.

Sonic managed to open his eyes, meeting a pair of crimson ones. He coughed, and turned onto all fours.

"I won't kill you. But if you ever talk about Maria like that again, you will regret it," the black hedgehog threatened. Sonic hopped up, and ran off, to find Amy Rose.

* * *

_It's no use... I can't find her... Maybe she is-... No! She can't be..._

Sonic was on a rooftop, overlooking a ruined city. He had checked Station Square, Central City, Empire City, and now, he was in Westopolis, having not one ounce of luck. He sat on the flat rooftop, his legs dangling over the side.

"Amy..." he muttered to himself. Images of his pink friend filled his mind.

_Why didn't I just go with her? I should've been more persistent! I knew it was a bad decision!_

More of these thoughts flooded the cobalt hedgehog's mind. He grabbed his head with his gloved hands, and,

"AGH!" Sonic screamed in frustration. His breathing became heavier.

_I...failed to save her... I... I didn't even try! She needed me... and I wasn't there... She died..._

_….alone..._

"Oh, god..." Sonic muttered. As the thought replayed in his head, he turned onto all fours, and threw up. Images of Amy, burning in the explosion clouded his train of thought. Tears began streaming down his cheeks.

"WHY?!" he screamed, clutching his stomach in agony.

* * *

Around midnight, Sonic was walking the streets of Westopolis, when he heard a commotion.

"AHH!" he heard a woman scream. He kept his head down, too disheartened to even have the will to help her. The piercing scream, kept getting louder, and more blood curdling, as he tried to block it out.

"SONIC!" he heard the woman cry. He froze.

_I'm going insane..._ he thought.

"AHH!"

_No. That was Amy. I'd know that scream anywhere._

He looked ahead, and saw an old, rundown apartment building. Through the many windows, only one light was on. The sapphire twenty-three year old sprinted over to the building, and ran up the side of the wall, using his inhuman speed. He jumped through the window, shattering the glass, and landed on his feet. He looked in front of him to find Amy, pinned up against a wall, with her arms chained above her head. In front of her, stood Sonic's evil doppelganger, choking her.

_Can't lose control...Not now...Not with Amy here... No!_

"Ah, Amy! Look who's come to join us," Scrouge cackled. Sonic looked at Amy's attire, which was no clothes. His face became red with anger. His body began to shake. His fur became dark. Scrouge smirked at his dark self.

"Ha-ha! That's the spirit, blueboy!" the green hedgehog smirked.

"Sonic..." Amy whimpered, using what little breath she could muster.

"I'll kill you," Sonic growled. He ran top speed at Scrouge and threw him into the wall, leaving a huge mark. Sonic, then, turned to Amy, and tugged the the chains, using brute force.

"It's no use, stupid. If her abnormal strength can't do it, your lanky self can't do it either," Scrouge muttered, standing up.

Sonic put his pearly white teeth to the metal, and bit down on it. With all his power, he ripped it off of her. Amy, paralyzed by his newfound strength, sunk to the ground, unmoving. Scrouge, then, came behind Sonic, and punched him in his side, sending the cobalt hedgehog flying across the room.

Sonic growled, and lunged at Scrouge, making the anti drop his knife. He had his doppelganger, up against the wall, and began to choke him.

"This is what you did to her. How's it feel?" Sonic asked, his voice venomous. He punched Scrouge in the face, knocking his sunglasses off in the process. The green hedgehog's icy blue eyes widened in fear. Sonic was about to give a fatal blow to his head, when he felt a small hand on his leg.

"Please don't..." Amy whispered. "...You aren't like this..." Sonic hestitated, but lowered his arm in the end, his green eyes boring into Scrouge's blue ones.

"AGH!" Amy screamed in pain. Sonic turned his head to find Fiona Fox behind Amy, with a knife to his pink friend's neck. She had all of Amy's quills in her hand, so that the sakura hedgehog could not get away.

"Amy!" Sonic growled. He turned back to Scrouge, who had not been able to move out of his iron grip.

"Let Scrouge go, or she'll never see another day," Fiona threatened, her cloudy blue eyes narrowing on Sonic green ones. Amy looked to her left. She saw Scrouge's knife that he'd dropped earlier on the ground.

_The only way we're gonna get out of here alive, is if I... do it..._

She picked up the knife, while Fiona was focused on Sonic, and brought it to her long quills.

_Here goes nothing... _Amy thought, closing her eyes.

Amy Rose sliced through her thick, pink quills, freeing herself from Fiona's grip.

"What the-?" the female fox gasped. Amy then, turned and stabbed Fiona in her left thigh. Now, of course, it wasn't enough to kill her, just to get her off.

"AGH!" Fiona cried out, falling to her knees.

"Fi! Scrouge called out, though he didn't seem too concerned. Amy saw the blood on her hands, and dropped her knife, shaking with disbelief.

"Leave us alone," Sonic growled into his anti's ear. This caused Scrouge's ears to droop in fear. The cobalt hedgehog grabbed Amy's clothes that were on the floor, and picked Amy up from off the ground. He then, slung her over his shoulder, a bit roughly. He took off, causing his famous, sonic boom.

* * *

"Where are we going?" Amy asked. Sonic's fur had been gradually returning to it's normal cobalt pigment, but it was still darker than usual. When he didn't respond, Amy continued.

"You're scaring me..." she whimpered. Sonic halted to a stop. He set Amy down, and handed her her clothes. Amy began to put them on.

"I-I'm scaring you?" Sonic asked, sounding hurt, and ashamed.

"I- I mean, well-"

"I get it. One version of me, tried to rape and kill you. You should be scared. But I swear to God that it will never happen," Sonic said, his eyes closed.

"I...I don't think of it like that, Sonic..." Amy whispered. "That wasn't you... or at least the you I fell in love with..."

"But he still is a part of me. Maybe I'm a part of him too..." Sonic said, trying not to let tears of shame fall.

"Don't ever think like that again, Sonic the Hedgehog!" Amy snapped. Her expression softened when she saw more tears fall from the sapphire hedgehogs eyes.

"Amy... I hurt you... So much. I think, it'd be best if we ended whatever this was..." Sonic muttered, not meeting her stare. Her green eyes widened with shock, and hurt.

"You-you don't really mean that, Sonic!" Amy cried, her eyes filled to the brim with tears.

"Yes, I do," Sonic said, his eyes closed. It pained him to say this.

"No, you don't!" Amy tackled him to the ground, pinning his arms above his head.

"Amy!" Sonic gasped for air. He was cut short, when Amy pressed her lips to his. Sonic's peridot orbs widened at her rash action.

_Oh-no... I shouldn't have done that..._ Amy scolded herself. She was about to pull away, when Sonic sat up, pulling her closer to him. He started to kiss back, making Amy's heart pound uncontrollably. He put his right hand on the back of her head, and his left hand on her mid back, while Amy snaked her pale, apricot arms around his neck. Sonic, soon after, began to pull away.

"We'd better get home," he whispered, softly, picking her up in his arms as gently as possible. Amy nodded, and snuggled into his chest.

* * *

_(At Robotnik's Unknown Base...)_

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU 'FAILED'?!" Dr. Eggman roared.

"Sorry, Doc, but blueboy got pissed. Hell, pinky even stabbed Fiona in the thigh," Scrouge said, crossing his arms. "Don't worry, tubs. The Destructix has a better idea. It'll take a couple of weeks to pull off, but this one is sure to succeed."

"It had better..." Robotnik growled. "Now get out."

* * *

_(At Uncle Chuck's House...)_

As Sonic laid Amy, who had fallen asleep on the run, in his bed, he looked at her.

"I promise, to never let anyone hurt you again... Because if they do... they'll be sorry..." He walked over to the bed, and kissed her head.

"I'll see you in the morning, Amy..." he smiled, sadly. He then, walked out of his bedroom, and downstairs.

"Now tell us what happened," Tikal asked the blue hedgehog. Downstairs, Sally, Bunnie, Antoine, Shadow, Tails, Cream, Rotor, Rouge, Elias and Meg all sat, waiting for Sonic.

"Um... well-" Sonic was cut short by-

"Where is she?!" a frantic, song-like voice demanded, entering the house. In the entrance, stood twenty-four year old, Mina Mongoose.

"Sonic?" her mint eyes widened in alarm.

"Hey, Songoose. Long time, no see," the cobalt hedgehog grinned. "How's it going?"

* * *

**Omfg If I scared or scarred you with this chapter I am sorry xD. Uh, well, review, please.**

**I am SO HAPPY that Mina is in the story, because I love her. **

**Naruto Reference: When Amy cut her quills. Sakura does that at the Chunin exams.**

**If you felt like Sonic was out of character, imagine someone that you are close to, burning in an explosion, or dying. You'd be pretty upset. And relax, it was only the one chapter, and at the end, he was perfectly fine.**

**More Shadow and Tikal stuff in the next chapter because Shadow does something that you will all hate me for:) **

**Alright. Please review. It would mean a lot! PM me questions/concerns!**

**See you later for Chapter 19. Have a Nice Day!:)**


	19. A New Face Returns: Part One

**Hey, everybody. I am so sorry I took so long to update. School is starting up again very, very soon (This Wednesday) and I've been starting a new series, too. Plus, I've been having bad writer's block, which is making it hard to update. Don't worry, I will finish this series (I don't believe in discontinuation.)**

**Anyways, this chapter is divided into two parts, with the beginning part being shorter. I hope you enjoy chapter nineteen!**

* * *

**-Normal POV-**

Amy woke up the next morning, with a pair of arms around her.

"Sonic?" she asked, still half asleep.

"Who else?" he grinned. Amy smiled, and looked up at him.

"You had me worried the other day, Ames..." Sonic murmured into her ear.

"The other day...? What is the date?!" Amy asked, sitting up.

"It's Thursday. You were out for forty-eight hours..." He whispered, pulling her back into his arms.

"Did we find any leads on the other chaos emeralds?" she asked, shifting away from the blue hero.

"Yes, actually... I'll show you when you can stand up," Sonic smiled. Amy, being as stubborn as she was, attempted to stand, but fell, causing Sonic to jump out of bed, and catch her.

"Take it easy, Amy. Your body has been through quite a lot..." The sakura hedgehog looked behind Sonic, and into a mirror.

"M-my quills," she said, pushing past him gently, and slowly touching her gloved hand, to her spikes. Sonic's eyes widened in sympathy. Amy's once mid-back quills, were now to her shoulders, jagged, and flat. Sonic walked up behind her, and put his arms around her waist, pulling her back into his chest.

"I-it's not a big deal...You still look beautiful to me..." Hearing no response, Sonic spoke again. "Wait here..." he whispered, letting go of her waist.

* * *

_Knock, knock!_

"Come in..." Amy mumbled.

"Hey, pink stuff. How're ya feel...ing," Rouge had stopped talking when she saw Amy's quills. "Sheesh! Sonic said that you needed help with something, but he didn't tell me you looked this awful!"

"Thanks, Rouge... Way to make me feel better..." Amy muttered, though she didn't really care for what Rouge had to say.

"Sorry, hun. Listen, pinky... I'll fix this..."

* * *

It took Rouge a matter of six and a half minutes to fix Amy's messed up quills, and about two minutes flat, to apply some light makeup to her face.

"Thank you so much, Rouge," Amy said, grinning at her reflection.

"Anytime, pinky," Rouge smirked, "Just don't ask again, because it's not happening." She then, left the room.

_Knock._

"It's me, Amy," Sonic said through the door. The pink hedgehog bounced over to the door, and opened it.

"Amy?" Sonic's jaw fell open a little. She answered him by hugging him.

"Thank you for saving me the other day," Amy whispered into his chest. She could feel Sonic's loud heartbeat, as it went from a slow pace, to a fast pace.

"U-uh, no problem Amy. You know I'd save you," Sonic said, petting her head awkwardly.

"Your heartbeat... It's so fast," Amy whispered.

"W-well I am the fastest thing alive for a r-reason," he stuttered, a faint blush appearing on his face.

"I don't think it has anything to do with your speed..." Amy said, looking up at him. Sonic's face turned more like the color of Shadow's eyes by the second.

"Uh..." he trailed off. Amy touched his cheek.

"You can kiss me if you want..." Amy mumbled, inching closer and closer. Sonic nodded, and gulped, beginning to lean in, too. When their lips met, Sonic pulled Amy closer to him, and subconsciously began to rub her back, as she tangled her gloved hands through his sapphire quills.

* * *

Downstairs, Mina and the others were talking.

"So what were you doing in the United Federation, Mina?" Shadow asked. Mina blushed when she heard him say her name. Tikal noticed.

"I was on a mission to get the ruby red chaos emerald, but I heard the news of Amy, and rushed back..." Mina answered.

"Don't you think we should go and find the emerald though," Rouge asked.

"Shouldn't we wait until Amy feels better?" Mina questioned, though she wasn't opposed to the idea at all.

"Oh trust me... She's fine... I can hear them all the way upstairs," she shuddered, pointing to her bat ears. Everyone sweatdropped.

"Um..." Cream muttered.

"I believe the word you're looking for is... 'anyways'," Tails said.

"Do you guys wanna go find it? Time's ticking," Mina said.

"Where is it?" Shadow asked. Mina blushed again.

"U-uh... In Holoska..." Mina answered.

"I'll fire up the X-Tornado," Tails grinned.

"I'll help you!" Cream said, following him outside. Mina and Rouge went outside to get their stuff together and into the plane, leaving Tikal and Shadow alone.

"I'll see you soon, Tikal," Shadow said, turning to leave.

"I'm going, too, Shadow," the echidna girl said.

"No, you're not," Shadow muttered.

"Yes, I am," Tikal protested.

"It's too dangerous; you could get hurt."

"Stop worrying about me! I have to help! I am not going to be useless like I was back then!" she argued, thinking back to when her own village was destroyed.

Shadow shut his eyes.

I'm going to have to do it...It's for your own safety...Forgive me, Tikal...

"We don't need you, Tikal; you'll be in our way. We're always having to save you, and we can't do it this time," he said, his back to her.  
"No!" she gasped. The girl ran up behind him and hugged him. "You don't mean that!"  
"Yes, I do! Now get the fuck off! We don't have time for this, and I certainly do not have time for you," Shadow said in a harsh tone. Tikal let go of him.

"H-how is it possible that I still have love for you?" she asked. That pierced Shadow's heart. The sadness and hurt in her tone cut him.

"Goodbye, Tikal," Shadow his tone of voice sounding the same way. He then ran from the house, leaving only his signature scarlet streak behind, and a piece of his heart.

* * *

Upstairs, Amy and Sonic had moved from standing in the doorway, to Amy, being up against a wall, and Sonic kissing her passionately. Amy began moaning, which was not doing Sonic's hormones any justice.

"Sonic..." she slurred. He started entwining his fingers through her soft, pink quills, earning more moans. He then, pulled away slowly.

"What is it?" Amy asked, breathless.

"Come here..." Sonic said, taking Amy's hand. He led her over to his window, and opened it.

"Hold on tight, Ames," he grinned, making her giggle. The blue hero then pulled her into his arms, and hopped onto the roof.

* * *

_(With The Freedom Fighters In Holoska...)_

The once beautiful, gleaming city, was now in ruins. The pearly, white ice, was a charcoal pigment, and the skies were still grey. There were smashed igloos and no sign of any organic lifeforms.

"Aren't the arctics supposed to be white?" Cream asked.

"Robotnik polluted the ice caps..." Mina said, her voice bitter. "and he destroyed this town."

"Who goes there?" a feminine voice questioned. The group of five turned to face a young woman.

"We're the freedom fighters of New Mobotropolis," Mina answered.

"Introduce yourself," Shadow demanded.

"I am Marketa of what used to be Holoska...One of the only three survivors of Dr. Robotnik's attack... I know why you're here..." She then pulled out a red chaos emerald. "But I will not give you what you want. There's only one person that I shall trust..."

"She goes by the name of Amy..."

* * *

_(Back At Uncle Chuck's House...)_

"I mean, have you seen Jon in the past few years?" Sonic asked. Amy shook her head.

"He's so big now; grew up fast," Sonic grinned. He and Amy were still laying down on the roof of his Uncle's house together, reminiscing.

"Do you remember when you were begging me to babysit that flicky of yours?" Sonic asked, entwining his gloved fingers with hers.

"Yes...and you completely refused!" Amy recalled, blushing.

"Only because you were so intimidating back then... A twelve year old, wielding a hammer, bigger than herself, proclaiming her love for you, every time she saw you..." Sonic grinned.

"You know you liked it," Amy smiled, snuggling into his chest.

"Maybe..." Sonic cracked a small side smile. The two stopped talking for awhile.

"H-hey, Amy... I was wondering...um-" Sonic was cut off by a plane engine in the background. "HEY GUYS!" Sonic called, standing up and waving. He helped Amy up, and they jumped off the roof. The X-Tornado landed on the ground, and the door on the side opened.

"You're not gonna believe what we found, you two..." Mina's song like voice sang as she stepped out of the plane.

"What?" Sonic asked.

"We found a friend of yours when we traveled to Holoska," Tails smiled.

"Marketa... Come on out," Cream's polite voice called. Out stepped a sixteen year old girl, with tan skin, and dark, chocolaty hair.

"Hello Amy... It has been a while."

* * *

**Alright. I hope you liked it.**

**Mina has a small crush on Shadow, but it won't be too big of a sub-plot. **

**Next chapter, we come back with the fun stuff, so stay tuned.**

**Please Review! & See you for chapter twenty. Have a nice day!:)**


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